The Sensex and Nifty opened higher on Wednesday, with the Sensex up 657.85 points, or 0.85 per cent, at 77,423.77, and the Nifty 50 gaining 191.3 points to 24,176.65.
IT stocks led the advance, with Infosys rising 3.89 per cent and L&T, TCS, Hindustan Unilever and Tech Mahindra also posting gains.
The Nifty IT index climbed as much as 2.51 per cent and the Nifty FMCG index rose 1.52 per cent, even as several Asian markets traded lower.
Power Grid was the top loser, down 0.67 per cent, while InterGlobe Aviation, Asian Paints, Maruti and Titan also slipped in early trade.
Market breadth stayed firmly positive, with 1,837 stocks advancing against 550 declining and 103 unchanged on the BSE.
The rally followed a rebound in crude oil prices after a roughly 14 per cent decline over three sessions amid escalating US-Iran tensions.
Foreign institutional investors bought ₹755.33 crore worth of shares on July 28, while domestic institutional investors purchased ₹1,664.16 crore worth of equities the same day.
Investors remained watchful ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision due later in the day, even as domestic indices advanced in early trade.
The opening gains followed Tuesday’s flat close, when the Sensex settled at 76,765.92 and the Nifty at 23,985.35 amid a fragile pause in US-Iran hostilities.
The India VIX volatility index eased to 12.56 in the previous session on July 28, down 0.79 per cent, as a firmer rupee and cooling US-Iran tensions supported calmer sentiment.
Sustained buying by domestic institutional investors in recent sessions has also been credited with cushioning Indian markets against bouts of volatility driven by global cues.
Market watchers said the rebound in crude oil, after three straight sessions of sharp declines, had eased some of the concerns that had weighed on Indian equities earlier in the week amid the ongoing US-Iran tensions.
(Image: “BSE building at Dalal Street” by BSEINDIA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
