Sensex, Nifty rise in early trade

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| Photo Credit: Reuters

Equity benchmark indices Sensex gained more than 140 points and Nifty rose 57 points in early trade on September 1 as investors seemed to be relatively cautious amid mixed global cues.

Economic growth of 7.8% in the three months ended June, the highest in the past four quarters, helped investor sentiments.

The 30-share Sensex climbed 142.02 points or 0.22% to 64,973.43 points while the broader Nifty went up 57.60 points or 0.3% to 19,311.40 points. Majority of the stocks in both Sensex and Nifty were in the positive territory. In the Sensex pack, Tata Steel gained more than 3%.

Most of the Asian markets were in the green on Friday while European and U.S. shares had closed in the red on August 31. On Thursday, Sensex declined 255.84 points to close at 64,831.41 points while Nifty dropped 93.65 points to settle at 19,253.80 points.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said U.S. stocks finished mostly lower on Thursday to end August on a sour note after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge proved largely in line with expectations for July, leaving investors looking ahead to Friday’s August jobs report.

“Stocks in Asia broadly advanced as China rolled out more stimulus to aid its ailing economy,” he added.

Official data released on Thursday showed that the Indian economy grew 7.8% in the June quarter, mainly on the back of double-digit expansion in the services sector, and retained its position as the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Crude futures were marginally higher at $87.02 per barrel.

On Thursday, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of domestic equities as they offloaded shares worth ₹2,973.10 crore, as per exchange data.