Sensex surges over 200 points in early trade; RIL leads gains

Domestic equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Friday led by gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and L&T amid sustained foreign fund inflow.

The BSE Sensex was trading 206.45 points or 0.54 per cent higher at 38,516.94; while NSE Nifty was up 56.10 points or 0.50 per cent at 11,356.55.

L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around two per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, Asian Paints, TCS and Infosys.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, PowerGrid, ONGC, ITC, Axis Bank and Maruti were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the Sensex had settled 59.14 points or 0.15 per cent lower at 38,310.49, and the Nifty slipped 7.95 points or 0.07 per cent to finish at 11,300.45.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 416.28 crore on a net basis on Thursday.

According to traders, buying in index majors led benchmarks higher despite weak cues from global markets.

Sustained foreign fund inflow also supported key indices in the morning session, they said.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-day deals, while Tokyo was in the positive territory.

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

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.20 per cent higher at $45.05 per barrel.