The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 196.53 points to touch 50,099.17 in the first few minutes of trade before sliding below the flatline. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark climbed to as high as 15,069.80, adding 39.65 points to its previous close.
Titan was the top gainer in the Nifty50 universe, trading 2.05 per cent in early deals. L&T, ICICI Bank, Cipla, Infosys and Asian Paints were among other gainers.
On the other hand, Hindalco was the top laggard, down 4.84 per cent. Tata Steel, JSW Steel, ONGC, Coal India and Sun Pharma were the worst hit among 34 losers.
Analysts awaited more Q4 earnings reports from India Inc for cues.
Havells India, Bosch, HPCL, Relaxo Footwears and ZEE Entertainment are some of the companies slated to report their quarterly financial results later in the day. Torrent Power, KNR Constructions, JK Lakshmi Cement, Meghmani Organics and Usha Martin are also due to post their earnings on Thursday.
Equities in other Asian markets started lower, as investors weighed the Fed minutes that flagged the possibility of a debate on scaling back asset purchases. Japan’s Nikkei225 fell 0.48 per cent, Shanghai Composite slipped 0.29 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.5 per cent. Hang Seng retreated 0.63 per cent.
Overnight on Wall Street, main indexes closed lower after minutes from an April Federal Reserve meeting showed participants agreed the US economy remained far from the US central bank’s goals, with some considering discussions on tapering its bond buying program.
Crude oil prices stabilised after slumping to the lowest in three weeks. Benchmark WTI crude traded steady at $63.37 a barrel after falling 3.3 per cent the previous day.
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. MORE TO COME…
