Sensex Rises Over 100 Points, Nifty Trades Above 16,200

Indian equity benchmarks on Tuesday traded higher in opening deals led by a recovery in metal stocks. Metal shares plunged sharply in the previous session after the Centre imposed export duties on steel-making raw materials.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a flat start for the domestic indices today. Asian shares slipped as the overnight gains on Wall Street got soured by a slide in U.S. stock futures.

Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 121 points or 0.22 per cent to 54,410 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 20 points or 0.12 per cent up to trade at 16,235.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 0.36 per cent and small-cap gained 0.52 per cent.

11 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Sub-index Nifty Metal was outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.90 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, M&M was the top gainer as the stock soared 1.56 per cent to Rs 956.55. JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto and Coal India were also among the gainers.

On the 30-share BSE index, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC and HDFC were among the top gainers.

Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) rose 1.26 per cent to trade at Rs 827.15 against its previous close of Rs 816.85. LIC made a tepid debut at the stock exchanges last week, listing at a discount of 8.62 per cent.

In contrast, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Titan, TCS, L&T, Infosys and HCL Tech were trading in the red.

Sensex had declined 38 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 54,289 on Monday, while Nifty had moved 51 points or 0.32 per cent down to settle at 16,215.