Sensex inches up 36 pts on F&O expiry, positive global cues

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 36points to 26,101 in early trade today, extending its climb for the third straight day on short-covering in view of April derivatives series expiry and positive global cues. A firming trend in most of Asia, tracking overnight gains in the US after the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, gave buying in domestic markets a leg-up, traders said.

Taking note of improvement in the labour market, the US central bank cited slower economic growth for its policy move while signalling faith in outlook of the economy. In a related development, the Bank of Japan too kept rates steady. The 30-share index was trading higher by 36.42 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 26,100.54. The gauge had gained 385 points in the previous two sessions. That apart, better-than-estimated earnings by some companies came as a positive for sentiment. The NSE Nifty rose 10.30 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 7,990.20 in early trade.

Short-covering by participants with today being the last trading session of April series contracts in the derivatives segment supported the upmove. Telecom major Bharti Airtel surged 2.26 per cent to Rs 3,481.60 after the company yesterday reported a 2.8 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 1,290 crore for the fourth quarter to March 2016.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng firmed up 0.22 per cent while Japan's Nikkei moved higher by 1.41 per cent in early hours today. The Shanghai Composite Index, however, was down 0.76 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.28 per cent higher yesterday.