Stock markets trade in positive territory led by IT firms, foreign fund inflows

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty traded in positive territory during early trade on Thursday driven by a rally in IT stocks, foreign fund inflows and a drop in crude oil prices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 75.71 points to 77,726.62 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 26.90 points to 24,275.85.

From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra and Sun Pharma were among the major winners.

Adani Ports, Asian Paints, Eternal and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,981.87 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 1.26 per cent lower at USD 89.60 per barrel.

In Asian markets, South Korea's KOSPI, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded lower, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index quoted in positive territory.

US markets ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

"The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, but an unusually hawkish outcome with three policymakers dissenting in favour of a rate hike pushed long-dated Treasury yields close to two-decade highs," Rajesh Palviya, Head of Research, Axis Direct, said.

The Dow Jones declined 2.19 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost 1.52 per cent and 1.74 per cent, respectively, amid renewed selling in technology stocks, he added.

On Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 888.68 points, or 1.16 per cent, to settle at 77,654.60. The Nifty climbed 264.85 points, or 1.10 per cent, to end at 24,250.20.