Sensex up 239 points, Nifty above 16000

Benchmark indices start with growth. Sensex advanced and Nifty holds 16,000. Today's benchmark indices mirror positive global market trends.

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New Delhi: Benchmark indices started the trade on a firm note on Thursday with the Sensex climbing 239 points, mirroring positive global market trends. The 30-share BSE benchmark was trading 239.3 points higher at 53,753.45. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 74.7 points to 16,041.35. Among the Sensex constituents, Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy's Lab, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, ITC, and ICICI Bank were the prominent gainers. Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, and State Bank of India were the laggards.

In Asia, markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul were quoting in the green. The US markets had ended lower on Wednesday. "Even though the keenly awaited US CPI inflation data for June came at 9.1 percent against the expectation of 8.8 percent, the US markets declined only moderately, by less than 1 percent," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. ()

The BSE Sensex declined by 372.46 points or 0.69 percent to settle at 53,514.15 on Wednesday. The Nifty fell 91.65 points or 0.57 percent to 15,966.65. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.69 percent to USD 100.23 per barrel. ()

Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 2,839.52 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

"FIIs have used the July rally to press further big selling after what appeared as selling exhaustion in early July. This renewed FII selling may strengthen the bears but DIIs and retail investors are likely to turn strong buyers at every dip since India's economic fundamentals are strong and, more importantly, valuations are attractive particularly in segments/stocks where FIIs are selling," Vijayakumar added.