In early trade on Wednesday, Indian equity indexes were higher, powered by gains in banking and finance companies.
Trends on the Singapore Exchange’s Nifty Futures (SGX Nifty) pointed to a better start for the domestic indices.
Even as global growth fears and bad U.S. economic data weighed on Wall Street overnight, Asian stocks began higher.
In early trade in India, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 284 points, or 0.53 percent, to 54,337, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 79 points, or 0.49 percent, to 16,204.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were trading strongly, with the Nifty Midcap 100 up 0.26 percent and the small-cap index up 0.38 percent.
The National Stock Exchange’s sector indices were trading in the green 14 out of 15 times. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services sub-indices outperformed the NSE platform, advancing 1.07 percent and 1.19 percent, respectively.
SBI Life was the best gainer among stocks, up 2.64 percent to 1,101.70. The gainers included IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, SBI, and NTPC.
IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers on the 30-share BSE index.
Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) climbed 0.65% to 829.10, up from 823.75 at the previous closing. The state-owned insurer announced yesterday that its board of directors will consider paying dividends. Last week, LIC made a lukewarm debut on the public exchanges, debuting at an 8.62 percent discount.
Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HCL Tech, Wipro, Tata Steel, and M&M, on the other hand, were all in the red.
On Tuesday, the Sensex fell 236 points. Or 0.43 percent, to close at 54,053. While the Nifty fell 90 points, or 0.55 percent, to settle at 16,125.