MUMBAI: Domestic equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started on a positive note Thursday as investors awaited cues from the Economic Survey.
The 30-share index was trading 68.35 points or 0.17 per cent, higher at 39,907.60 at 0930 hours. Similarly, the broader Nifty was quoting 28.25 points, or 0.24 per cent, up at 11,945. In the previous session, the BSE gauge settled 22.77 points, or 0.06 per cent, higher at 39,839.25, and the Nifty edged up 6.45 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 11,916.75.
On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 390.18 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 287.57 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed on Wednesday.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack in early trade included Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, ONGC, Tata Motors, L&T, Tata Steel and Axis Bank, rising up to 2 per cent. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Bajaj Auto, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, ITC, TechM and NTPC fell up to 1.29 per cent.
According to traders, investors were cautious ahead of the Economic Survey, scheduled to be released later in the day, for cues on the state of the economy. The survey comes a day ahead of the Union Budget, which will be announced on Friday. On the currency front, the Indian rupee was trading marginally higher at 68.87 against the US dollar.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were trading on a negative note in their respective early sessions. Bourses on Wall Street ended at record peaks on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.71 per cent lower at 63.37 per barrel.