Sensex Gains Nearly 250 Points, Nifty Above 10,650

The stock markets started today's session on a positive note, with the BSE Sensex rising as much as 246 points to trade above the key 35,000 mark. Domestic equities took support from other Asian markets where investors appeared to overcome the recent selloff triggered by a political turmoil in Italy, say analysts. National Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark index Nifty gained 61 points to touch 10,676. Advances were led by banking, finance and metal stocks. GDP growth data for the January-March period will be released post-market hours today.

Thirty three stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index were trading in the positive zone. Top gainers on the index were HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Tata Steel and Coal India, trading around 1-3 per cent higher each in early deals.

Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 0.6 per cent, HDFC gained 1.1 per cent and Bajaj Holdings went up 0.8 per cent.

Global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday cut India's GDP growth forecast to 7.3 per cent in 2018, from its previous forecast of 7.5 per cent, citing higher oil prices and tighter financial conditions. The agency, however, kept growth expectation for 2019 remains unchanged at 7.5 per cent.

India likely retained the position of world's fastest growing major economy in the January-March quarter, surpassing China's growth of 6.8 per cent, driven by gains in manufacturing and consumer spending. The median in a Reuters poll on the latest quarter's annual growth was 7.3 per cent, the best pace since July-September 2016, the quarter before the government unexpectedly scrapped high-value currency notes. Forecasts for January-March ranged from 6.9 to 7.7 per cent.

Shares in other Asian markets rebounded from a two-month trough. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.56 per cent after slumping to its weakest since the start of April on Wednesday. 

The euro enjoyed a respite after sinking to its lowest in 10 months as political turmoil in Italy that had roiled global financial markets showed signs of easing. Stocks in Italy, the epicentre of the latest global market tumult, bounced back 2.1 per cent on Wednesday. But it had given up all the gains made in 2018. Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.25 per cent and the S&P 500 climbed 1.27 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) had net sold shares worth Rs. 1,286.91 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net purchased shares worth Rs. 492.46 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional data from the NSE.

(With agency inputs)