Sensex rises over 200 points, Nifty above 10,300

Mumbai: BSE benchmark Sensex rose over 200 points in early trade on Wednesday following gains in auto, metals and banking stocks amid unabated buying by domestic institutional investors and rupee recovery.

The 30-share index spurted 220.38 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 34,519.85. The barometer had lost 175 points on Tuesday.

Sectoral indices, led by capital goods, auto, oil and gas, metal and healthcare, rose up to 1.50 per cent.

The NSE Nifty too was up by 45.55 points, or 0,43 per cent, at 10,346.60.

The rupee was trading higher by 23 paise at 74.16 against the American currency in early deals. There was continued buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) as well as select purchases by retail investors, traders said.

Besides, RBI's decision to inject Rs 12,000 crore liquidity into the system through purchase of government bonds on October 11 to meet festive season demand for funds also boosted the sentiment here, they added.

Prominent gainers include Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, Vedanta, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Bank, RIL, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, HDFC Ltd, L&T, Coal India, SBI and ICICI Bank, rising up to 2.87 per cent.

Meanwhile, DIIs bought shares worth a net of Rs 1,526 crore, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pulled out a net Rs 1,242 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Cues from other Asian markets were mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.34 per cent, while Shanghai Composite fell 0.25 per cent. Japan's Nikkei too shed 0.26 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average in the US ended 0.21 per cent lower on Tuesday.