Sensex topples 250 points; Nifty breaches 11,000 mark

The 30-share index was trading 255.89 points, the 50-share NSE Nifty breaches the 81.40 points

 Mumbai: BSE benchmark Sensex jumped over 250 points and NSE Nifty breached the 11,000 mark in early trade Wednesday led by gains in IT and metal stocks amid heavy buying by domestic and foreign institutional investors.

The 30-share index was trading 255.89 points, or 0.70 per cent, higher at 36,872.70.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty reclaimed the 11,000 mark, rallying 81.40 points, or 0.74 per cent, 11,015.75.

On Tuesday, the Sensex ended 34.07 points, or 0.09 per cent, higher at 36,616.81; and the NSE Nifty edged up 22.10 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 10,934.35.

"The Indian market is embracing for the monetary policy to be released on February 7; and majority of the economists now expect status quo against a rate cut sometime back," said Paras Bothra, President, Equity Research, Ashika Group.

The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began its three-day review meet on Tuesday.

"Foreign participation has certainly gained pace after the US Fed's patient view and is expected to support stocks with strong underlying fundamentals," he added.

In morning session on Tuesday, HCL Tech, NTPC, ONGC, RIL, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, ITC and HDFC were the top gainers in the Sensex pack, rising up to 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, Hero Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Vedanta and L&T were the losers, shedding up to 1.33 per cent.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 420.65 crore Tuesday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 194.31 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.41 per cent. Bourses in China and Korea remained closed for the Lunar New Year.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.68 per cent higher on Tuesday.

The rupee, meanwhile, appreciated 5 paise against US dollar to 71.52.

The benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.10 per cent to USD 61.92 per barrel.