The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday opened with strong gains, tracking global cues. At 9.45 am, the BSE Sensex rose 152 points to 72,338. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 21,984, up 55 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj twins, Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank were among the lead gainers. On the down side, Infosys, HCLTech, PowerGrid, Wipro, TechM, Maruti emerged losers. Among specific stocks, Paytm jumped 9 per cent on block deal while Nykaa advanced nearly 4 per cent after it posted doubling of its net profit in Q3 to Rs 17.5 crore versus a year-ago period.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices jumped 0.8 per cent each.
Sectorwise, Nifty Realty index gained most, up nearly 3 per cent. PSU Bank index was up 2 per cent, while IT pocket held slim losses.
In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex settled higher by 455 points at 72,186, while the NSE Nifty50 closed at 21,929, up 158 points.