Sensex surges over 250 points in early trade; Nifty tops 17,400

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 250 points in early trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index majors Infosys, HUL and TCS amid sustained foreign fund inflow.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 264.5 points or 0.45 per cent higher at 58,755.43. Similarly, Nifty advanced 80.85 points or 0.46 per cent to 17,477.75 in initial deals.

HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by HUL, Infosys, Asian Paints, Tata Steel and ITC.

On the other hand, Maruti, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Auto were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 524.96 points or 0.89 per cent lower at 58,490.93, and Nifty tumbled 188.25 points or 1.07 per cent to close at 17,396.90.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 92.54 crore on Monday, as per provisional exchange data.

"Domestic equities look to be soft as cascading impact of Evergrande defaults may turn investors risk averse in the near to medium term," said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

However, considering increasing possibility of earnings downgrade in the US markets following sharp rise in coronavirus daily caseload and continued reform measures undertaken by the Indian government appear to have revived FIIs' interest in the domestic market, he noted.

On the global front, equities witnessed heavy selling pressure on Monday as growing fears of China's second largest real estate giant Evergrande's possible default spooked markets. All three indices in the US recorded fall of around 2 per cent.

Further, investors turned to be cautious ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting outcome on Wednesday, wherein many investors expect hawkish commentary from the US Federal Reserve, Modi added.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng and Nikkei were trading with losses. Bourses in China and Tokyo remained closed.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.91 per cent to USD 74.59 per barrel.