Equity markets trade higher in early trade on buying in IT stocks, fresh foreign fund inflows

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty climbed in early trade on Wednesday, taking their winning momentum to the fifth day running, driven by buying in IT stocks and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 254.02 points to 82,180.77 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 70.25 points to 25,178.55.

From the Sensex firms, Titan, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Maruti were among the biggest gainers.

However, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Tuesday, as they bought equities worth Rs 1,440.66 crore, according to exchange data.

"The ongoing mild rally in the market has support from institutional investment. FIIs turning buyers yesterday is a positive development. But it is too early to say that this trend will sustain," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index traded higher while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index quoted lower. Markets in China and South Korea were closed for holidays.

US markets ended lower on Tuesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.78 per cent to USD 65.96 a barrel.

On Tuesday, the Sensex went up by 136.63 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 81,926.75. The Nifty edged higher by 30.65 points or 0.12 per cent to 25,108.30.