Sensex rises over 65 points in early trade, Nifty at 10,839.25 points

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 65 points in early trade Friday following value-based buying in auto, oil & gas, and metal sectors amid positive trend at other Asian markets and rising rupee. The 30-share index was trading 68.58 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher at 36,175.08. The gauge opened on a positive note and touched a high of 36,214.26 in morning trade. The NSE Nifty too witnessed similar movement, and was trading 17.65 points, or 0.16 per cent, up at 10,839.25.

On Thursday, the Sensex settled 106.41 points, or 0.29 per cent, down at 36,106.50, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 33.55 points, or 0.31 per cent, to finish at 10,821.60.

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Top gainers at the BSE include HDFC, ONGC, ITC, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, Reliance, Asian Paints, HUL and Tata Steel. While top losers were TCS, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, M&M, L&T, IndusInd Bank and Powergrid.

TCS fell 2.21 per cent to 1846.50 after it reported 24.1 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 8,105 crore for the quarter ended December 2018. On the macro front, the rupee appreciated by 7 paise to 70.34 against the US dollar in opening trade. Brent crude futures were trading 0.21 per cent lower at USD 61.55 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.81 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index up 0.11 per cent, while Korea’s Kospi surged 0.38 per cent. On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 122.80 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 24,001.92 on Thursday.

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Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 344.58 crore Thursday and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 10.98 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.