Mumbai, India (BBN) – The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading higher by over 210 points and the NSE index Nifty close to the 8,950-mark on positive GDP data for the December quarter and favourable Asian cues.
Domestic sentiment was also buoyed as Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.7 in February from 50.4 in January, reports The Hindu Business Line.
At 2.25pm, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 215.51 points or 0.75 per cent at 28,958.53 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 61.4 points or 0.69 per cent at 8,941.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index gained the most by 3.81 per cent, followed by metal 1.95 per cent, FMCG 1.19 per cent and healthcare 1.02 per cent. On the other hand, oil & gas index was down 0.77 per cent, consumer durables 0.13 per cent and auto 0.09 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Tata Steel (+3.22 per cent), Dr Reddy’s (+2.7 per cent), Sun Pharma (+2.18 per cent), HDFC (+2.11 per cent) and ITC (+1.98 per cent), while the major losers were Tata Motors (-1.21 per cent), NTPC (-0.86 per cent), GAIL (-0.79 per cent), Bharti Airtel (-0.37 per cent) and Coal India (-0.36 per cent).
EARLY TRADE
The 30-share index, which had lost 149.65 points in the previous two sessions, gained 229.56 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 28,972.88.
All sectoral indices, led by realty, bank and metal, moved up, with gains of up to 1.29 per cent.
The Nifty climbed 61.80 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 8,941.40.
The risk appetite improved after the Central Statistics Office had yesterday showed that India’s economy expanded by 7 per cent in the third quarter, belying all fears of the note ban puncturing economic activity.
The government pegged GDP growth at a higher-than-expected 7.1 per cent for 2016-17 despite the cash blues, with manufacturing and agriculture doing exceptionally well, which in turn made India retain the tag of the world’s fastest growing large economy.
The GDP projection for the fiscal at 7.1 per cent in the second advance estimate is the same as the first one put out by the CSO in January.
GLOBAL MARKETS

The US currency also rebounded against the yen, rising 0.35 per cent to 113.16 yen, after earlier erasing its gains.
Reaction in Asian stock markets to Trump’s speech was also largely muted, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down about 0.2 per cent.
BBN/SK/AD