Sensex surges 215 points on buoyed Asian indices and heavy buying

The benchmark Sensex continued its advance by surging 215 points on across-the-board buying, buoyed by higher Asian indices.

Retail investors pressed ahead with value-buying as cash crunch following demonetisation started losing its bite.

The Sensex opened higher before trading at 26,847.75 at 1147 hours, up 214.62 points, or 0.81 per cent, from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also rose 66.55 points, or 0.81 per cent, at 8,257.05 at 1147 hours.

Major gainers were Adani Ports 3.34 per cent, Tata Motors 2.92 per cent, Tata Steel 2.69 per cent, ONGC 2.39 per cent, and Wipro 1.87 per cent.

Foreign funds net sold shares worth Rs 800.71 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data.

Most Asian markets were trading higher, underpinned by a firm closing on the Wall Street. US stocks closed just shy of their record levels yesterday following release of the Federal

Reserve’s December policy meeting minutes and a strong showing in auto sales.