Benchmark indices recover after two-day fall; Sensex climbs 327 points

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices bounced back on Wednesday after declining for two days, with the Sensex climbing 327 points in early trade, helped by buying in index major Reliance Industries and positive trends in the Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 326.98 points to 54,379.59 points in early deals. The broader NSE Nifty gained 98.2 points to 16,223.35 points.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries Limited, NTPC and HDFC were the prominent gainers in early trade.

In contrast, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

The BSE benchmark declined 236 points or 0.43 per cent to settle at 54,052.61 points on Tuesday. The Nifty dropped 89.55 points or 0.55 per cent to end at 16,125.15 points.

Asian markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul were trading in the green while Tokyo quoted marginally lower.

Stock markets in the US had mostly ended lower on Tuesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.16 per cent to USD 114.88 per barrel.

Continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,393.45 crore on Tuesday, as per stock exchange data.

"All eyes will be on the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes later on Wednesday which would give clarity on the Fed's rate-hike path in the near term. Also, selling by the FII camp continues to be the biggest negative catalyst for Dalal Street," said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

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