Mumbai, March 18 The benchmark indices in the Indian stock market, Sensex and Nifty, rose in early trading on Wednesday, building on the gains from the previous two trading sessions, amid falling crude oil prices and a positive trend in global markets.
A sharp rise in IT stocks also contributed to the optimistic trend in the domestic market.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 518.84 points to 76,589.68 in early trading. The 50-share NSE Nifty rose by 157.75 points to 23,738.90.
Among the 30 companies in the Sensex, Tata Consultancy Services, InterGlobe Aviation, Trent, HCL Tech, Infosys, and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major gainers.
HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the laggards.
Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, declined by 1.46 per cent to USD 101.9 per barrel.
"Despite the uncertainty surrounding the war, the market has staged a recovery. One factor that enabled this recovery is that crude oil prices have remained around USD 102, and the fears of prices spiking above USD 120 have not materialized," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd.
In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi jumped nearly 4 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed over 2 per cent. The SSE Composite index and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong were marginally lower.
The US market closed higher on Tuesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,741.22 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 5,225.32 crore.
"On the institutional front, continued selling by FIIs remains a challenge. However, strong and consistent buying by DIIs has been providing stability and cushioning the downside, which is a positive sign for the domestic market," said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm.
On Tuesday, the Sensex jumped 567.99 points, or 0.75 per cent, to close at 76,070.84. The Nifty climbed 172.35 points, or 0.74 per cent, to end at 23,581.15.