Sensex up by 286 pts in late morning trade

The BSE benchmark Sensex firmed up further for the second consecutive day by gaining 286 points in the late morning trade on persistent buying in view of firm Asian cues coupled with sustained capital inflows from foreign funds.

Shares of banking, capital goods, IT, tech, realty and FMCG sectors moved up on good buying enquiries.

The Sensex resumed higher at 20,570.59 and shot up further to 20,702.00 before quoting at 20,685.66 at 10:30 am, showing a gain of 286.24 points or 1.40 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50—share Nifty rose by 82.95 points or 1.37 per cent to 6,139.10 at 10:30 am.

Major gainers were Larsen (2.71 per cent), ICICI Bank (2.71 per cent), HDFC Bank (2.55 per cent), Wipro (2.54 per cent), ITC (1.92 per cent) and Reliance Industries (1.90 per cent).

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs. 970.03 crore on Thursday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Asian markets were trading higher in their early trade following firm cues from Wall Street. Key benchmark indices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea rose by 0.19 per cent to 2.14 per cent.

US stocks stepped higher on last Friday, lifting the S&P 500 and Dow to record closes, as investors continued to find encouragement in Janet Yellen’s support for the Federal Reserve’s stimulus efforts.