(ANI): Equity benchmark indices gained marginally during early hours on Wednesday for the third consecutive session tracking gains in Asian peers. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 173 points or 0.45 per cent at 38,701 while the Nifty 50 gained by 45 points or 0.4 per cent at 11,431. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty PSU bank gaining by 2.3 per cent, auto by 0.9 per cent and IT by 0.3 per cent.
Among stocks, State Bank of India was among the top gainers which moved to Rs 198.10, up 1.5 per cent. GAIL advanced by 2.6 per cent at Rs 99.45 per share and NTPC by 1.2 per cent at Rs 96.25. Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors were up by 1.7 per cent, 1.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively. The other prominent gainers were Adani Ports, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma.
However, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Nestle India, Hindustan Lever, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank traded with a negative bias.
Meanwhile, Asian shares climbed to a seven-month peak tracking the S&P 500, which scaled all-time highs. The positive sentiment was driven by ever-expanding policy stimulus aimed at cushioning the blow to economies from coronavirus pandemic.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan rose by 0.3 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei too nudged up slightly.
