Sensex rises over 100 points in early trade; IT stocks shine

New Delhi: Domestic equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 100 points in early trade on Thursday led by gains in index majors amid firm cues from global peers and sustained foreign fund inflow.

The BSE Sensex was trading 104.62 points or 0.27 per cent higher at 38,474.25 while NSE Nifty was up 38.05 points or 0.34 per cent at 11,346.45.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were Titan, M&M, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, Ultrachem, NTPC, ICICI Bank, ONGC, LT, TCS, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserve, rising upto 2.33 percent. On the other hand, major losers were ITC, Tata Steel, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Maruti and Bajaj Auto, falling upto 0.96 percent.

IT stocks rallied after the US announced certain exemptions in H-1B and L-1 travel ban for those continuing employment with the same employer. The move is likely to help Indian IT professionals.

In the previous session, the Sensex had settled 37.38 points or 0.10 per cent lower at 38,369.63, and the NSE Nifty slipped 14.10 points or 0.12 per cent to close at 11,308.40.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 351.15 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2%, and gains in semiconductor makers drove Japan`s Nikkei 1.9% higher to a six-month peak, a Reuters report said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.15 per cent lower at USD 45.36 per barrel.