Stock markets advance in early trade on buying in realty, utility stocks

New Delhi: Benchmark Sensex rose by nearly 300 points while Nifty traded above the 25,250 level in the early session on Friday, following buying in realty and utilities stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 299.21 points or 0.36 percent to 82,471.31 in the morning trade. The NSE Nifty increased by 70.05 points or 0.28 percent to 25,251.85.

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Among Sensex firms, Power Grid, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, NTPC, Asian Paints, ITC, HDFC Bank, Bharat Electronics Ltd, and Titan were the major gainers.

However, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Bharti Airtel were the laggards.

IT behemoth Tata Consultancy Services dropped over 0.7 percent even as it reported better-than-expected results on revenue and margin fronts for the September quarter.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,308.16 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

"The overall market environment is turning positive. Domestically, there are indications of a trade deal between US and India with India 'rebalancing' its oil purchases. These positive developments and the shift in FII strategy (FIIs were buyers in the cash market in the last three trading days) bode well for the market," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments, said.

The better-than-expected results from TCS, which reported better revenue and margin numbers, can lift sentiments for IT stocks, Vijayakumar added.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index, and Shanghai's SSE Composite index were trading lower while Seoul's Kospi is quoting in the positive territory.

The US markets retreated from their record highs and closed lower on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.14 percent to USD 65.12 a barrel.

On Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 398.44 points to settle at 82,172.10. The 50-share NSE Nifty jumped by 135.65 points to close at 25,181.80.

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