Sensex rises 167 points, Nifty recovers 9,900-level in opening trade

Mumbai: The benchmark NSE Nifty reclaimed the 9,900-level and BSE Sensex climbed over 167 points in early trade on Thursday on widespread gains following sustained buying by domestic institutional investors.

The NSE Nifty surged by 50.50 points, or 0.51 per cent to, 9,947.80.

While, the 30-share Sensex surged by 166.62 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 31,937.51 points in early trade. The gauge had gained 557.30 points in the previous two sessions.

Meanwhile, DIIs bought shares worth Rs 1,336.91 crore, while Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 1,090.10 crore on Wednesday, as per the provisional data.

Sectoral indices, led by metal, IT, realty, teck, consumer durables and oil & gas were trading in the positive zone, with gains up to 1.62 per cent.

Major gainers that supported the rally were Infosys, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Coal India, ICICI Bank, NTPC and Lupin, gaining up to 3.27 per cent.

Brokers said sentiment was largely bolstered on sustained capital inflows by domestic financial institutions as well as retail investors.

Besides, a mixed trend at other Asian markets following a positive lead from Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve policymakers hinted at a slower pace of future interest rate hikes in minutes of their July meeting boosted sentiment, they said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng moved up by 0.14 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.32 per cent in early trade today. Japan's Nikkei was, however, slightly down.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.12 per cent higher in Wednesday's trade.