Sensex jumps over 200 points in early trade; ITC up 2 %

ITC was the top gainers in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, after the company reported a 37.06 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at ₹ 4,173.72 crore for the second quarter ended September.

A man walks near the bronze statue of a bull outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. Shares sank in India on concerns over continued weakness in the rupee and over the country's trade deficit thanks to surging costs for oil imports. The rupee was trading at 73.71 to a U.S. dollar after hitting a record low of 73.81. The currency has lost 15 percent this year. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 200 points in early trade on Friday led by gains in index heavyweights Infosys, ITC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI, amid mixed domestic cues.

After hitting a high of 39,241.61, the 30-share index was trading 137.92 points, or 0.35 %, higher at 39,158.31 in morning trade, and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 31.25 points, or 0.27 %, to 11,613.85.

ITC was the top gainers in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, after the company reported a 37.06 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at ₹ 4,173.72 crore for the second quarter ended September.

SBI, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank and Maruti too gained up to 2 %.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, M&M, HCL Tech, ONGC, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC and Bajaj Auto were among the top losers, shedding up to 2.5 %.

In the previous session on Thursday, the 30-share Sensex ended 38.44 points, or 0.10 per cent, lower at 39,020.39. The broader NSE Nifty slipped 21.50 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 11,582.60.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, offloading ₹ 72.87 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth ₹ 738.75 crore, data available with stock exchange showed.

According to experts, mixed news flow on the domestic front is likely to keep the market volatile throughout the day.

Supreme court’s to allow the Centre to recover dues of about ₹ 92,000 crore from telcos has shaken the telecom companies, as well as their lenders like private and public banks, said Shrikant Chouhan, Senior Vice-President, Equity Technical Research, Kotak Securities.

Also, assembly elections results were little below expectations that has increased short term nervousness in the market, he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading on a tepid note.

On Wall Street, stock exchanges finished in the green on Thursday.

The rupee, meanwhile, appreciated 6 paise against the US dollar to trade at 70.96 in early session.

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.47 % to $ 61.38 per barrel.