Sensex continues to rule firm for the third day

Mumbai: The S&P BSE Sensex continued to rule firm for the third day by gaining 47 points in early trade on persistent buying by operators mainly in FMCG, metal, realty and power counters.

The Sensex resumed higher at 27,479.87 and hovered in a range of 27,509.59 and 27,391.40 before quoting at 27,418.82 at 1000 hours. It showed a gain of 46.98 points, or 0.17 per cent, from its last weekend's level.

The CNX 50-share Nifty also moved up by 14.30 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8,239.50 at 1000 hours. Major gainers were Gail India (1.98 pct), NTPC (1.81 per cent), Coal India (1.71 per cent), SSLT (1.56 per cent), ITC (1.39 per cent), ONGC (1.29 per cent), BHEL (1.22 per cent) and Bharti Airtel (1.15 per cent).

Asian markets were trading higher in early trade on December 22, tracking gains in the US market last week. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore were up by 0.34 per cent to 1.15 per cent.

On Friday, US stocks ended higher and the S&P 500 came within a few points of its closing record high. The S&P 500 index had climbed over the previous two sessions, spurred by the US Fed's commitment to take a "patient" approach toward raising interest rates, while signalling it was on track to boost rates in 2015. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 668.85 crore on last Friday as per provisional data.