Sensex rises over 150 points; Nifty tests 11,700

Mumbai, May 22

The benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 150 points in early trade on Wednesday, led by gains in oil and gas, banking and IT stocks, ahead of the general election results.

The 30-share index was trading 157.51 points, or 0.40 per cent, higher at 39,127.31.

In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty rose 30.90 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 11,740.

In the previous session, the Sensex ended 382.87 points, or 0.97 per cent, lower at 38,969.80, and the Nifty plunged 119.15 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 11,709.10.

Top Sensex gainers in morning trade include Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, RIL, HDFC twins, Tata Motors, ONGC, Infosys, Maruti and Kotak Bank, rising up to 1.38 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, ITC, HUL, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel fell up to 2.84 per cent.

According to experts, investor sentiment turned positive this week after most exit polls forecast a win for Narendra Modi-led NDA. The results of the seven-phase polls will come out on Thursday.

Continued foreign fund inflow, too, buoyed market mood here, traders said.

Foreign institutional investors bought equity worth Rs 1,185.44 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares to of Rs 1,090.32 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in China, Japan and Korea were trading on a mixed note in their respective early sessions. PTI