Sensex, Nifty trade higher in early trade

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty climbed in early trade on Wednesday amid firm global market trends and continuous foreign fund inflows.

Also, heavy buying in ITC added to the overall positive momentum in the equity market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 384.79 points to 74,052.75 in early trade. The Nifty advanced 111.05 points to 22,446.75.

From the Sensex pack, ITC jumped the most by over 6 per cent. British multinational BAT PLC on Tuesday said it plans to sell up to 3.5 per cent stake in India's ITC Ltd to institutional investors through a block trade.

Wipro, Nestle, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Infosys, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the other major gainers from the 30-share pack.

Power Grid, NTPC, Tata Steel, and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong traded in the green, while Tokyo and Shanghai quoted lower.

The US markets ended with significant gains on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 73.12 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.50 per cent to USD 82.33 a barrel.

India's industrial production growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in January, while the February retail inflation at 5.09 per cent remained within the Reserve Bank's comfort zone for the sixth straight month, according to the latest government data.

The BSE benchmark ended 165.32 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 73,667.96 on Tuesday. The Nifty ended flat at 22,335.70, up 3.05 points or 0.01 per cent.