Sensex up 87 pts in early trade on govt's disinvestment move

The benchmark BSE Sensex today rose over 87 points in early trade after two sessions of losses on fresh round of buying as the government yesterday approved the sale of shares in Coal India, ONGC and NHPC to garner a combined Rs 43,000 crore.

Besides, a firming Asian cues supported the recovery in the domestic markets here.

The 30-share barometer recovered by 87.77 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 27,145.18 as power, banking, infrastructure and capital goods sector stocks led gains. The index had lost 262.44 points in the previous two sessions.

On similar lines, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty edged higher by 30.40 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 8,124.50.

Brokers said apart from fresh buying by participants after the government cleared stake sale in Coal India, ONGC and NHPC, a firming trend on other Asian bourses following overnight gains on US market helped trading sentiment to improve.

The CCEA has cleared 10 per cent stake dilution in CIL, 5 per cent in ONGC and 11.36 per cent in NHPC through the Offer For Sale (OFS) route.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.60 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.09 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.32 per cent in yesterday's trade.