Sensex surges over 200 pts in early trade, Nifty tops 11,250

Domestic equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in opening session on Thursday tracking positive global equities after the US Fed left key interest rate near zero to support the economy reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most Asian markets started on a positive note, cheering the announcement, traders said.

The BSE Sensex was trading 207.12 points or 0.54 per cent higher at 38,278.25; while the NSE Nifty was up 71.35 points or 0.64 per cent at 11,274.20.

In the previous session, the 30-share Sensex ended 421.82 points or 1.10 per cent lower at 38,071.13, while the NSE Nifty tumbled 97.70 points or 0.86 per cent to 11,202.85.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 352.62 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.

TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Infosys and Bharti Airtel.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, HUL, Kotak Bank and HDFC were among the laggards.

According to traders, domestic stocks opened on a positive note tracking firm global cues after the US Federal Reserve left benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero and vowed to use all its tools to support the US economy.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were also trading higher, while Tokyo was in red.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a positive note in overnight trade.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading flat at USD 44.09 per barrel.