Sensex Rises Over 150 Points, Nifty Trades Above 16,250

Indian equity benchmarks on Wednesday traded higher in opening deals led by gains in metal, financial and automobile stocks. Asian shares rose today from close to two-year lows hit in the previous session ahead of the U.S. inflation data.

Overnight, Wall Street was mixed as the Nasdaq rose 0.98 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.25 per cent, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26 per cent.

Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 180 points or 0.33 per cent to 54,545 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 33 points or 0.20 per cent up to trade at 16,273.

Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.81 per cent and small-cap surged 0.44 per cent.

13 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Nifty Metal, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Auto were outperforming the index by rising as much as 1.57 per cent, 0.69 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, UPL was the top gainer as the stock rose 2.15 per cent to Rs 806.80. HDFC Life, Adani Ports, Tata Steel and BPCL were also among the gainers.

The overall market breadth stood strong as 1,415 shares were advancing while 983 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, M&M, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy's and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers.

In contrast, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, L&T and Sun Pharma were trading in the red.

Sensex had slipped 106 points or 0.19 per cent to close at 54,365 on Tuesday, while Nifty had moved 62 points or 0.38 per cent down to settle at 16,240.