Sensex surges 170 points in early trade amid positive Asian cues

The BSE benchmark Sensex rallied about 170 points in early trade on Wednesday, building on Tuesday's recovery, as investors and domestic institutions widened their bets amid positive global cues.

Short-covering by speculators in view of Thursday's November monthly derivatives contract expiry added to the upward move.

Sectoral indices led by capital goods, metal and realty stocks were in the green, adding up to 2 per cent. The NSE Nifty advanced 52.90 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 8,055.20.

Brokers said increased buying in select stocks coupled with covering-up of outstanding short positions ahead of the expiry had a positive impact. A firm trend on other Asian bourses following record closing at the US markets too influenced sentiments, they said.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.30 per cent, while Shanghai Composite index edged higher 0.23 per cent in early trade. Japanese financial markets are closed on Wednesday for a public holiday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average finished above 19,000 for the first time yesterday by gaining 0.4 per cent to 19,023.87 propelled by expectations of pro-growth policies.