The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 73 points in early trade on Tuesday, extending gains for the seventh session, driven by sustained foreign fund inflows.
Besides, covering-up of short positions ahead of March series expiry in the derivatives segment scheduled for March 20 as markets will remain closed on March 21, also supported the rising trend, brokers said.
The 30-share index was trading 73.35 points, or 0.19%, higher at 38,168.42. The gauge had gained over 1,420 points in the previous six sessions.
Sectoral indices, led by oil and gas, healthcare, realty, PSU, consumer durables and IT gained up to 0.78%.
The NSE Nifty also advanced by 14.40 points, or 0.13%, to 11,476.60.
Major gainers were Sun Pharma, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Yes Bank, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, HDFC, Coal India, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and Asian Paints, rising up to 3.05%.
Bucking the trend, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, M&M, Vedanta and Tata Steel were down up to 2.42%.
Brokers said sustained foreign fund inflows, continued buying by retail investors and a mixed global cues ahead of the U.S. Federal policy meet, influenced the market here.
Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,823 crore, while DIIs offloaded equities to the tune of ₹1,269 crore on March 18, provisional data showed.
Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei was trading lower by 0.26%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.16% and Shanghai Composite index was down 0.22% in their early deals.
On Wall Street, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.25% higher in Monday’s session.
