The BSE benchmark Sensex rose over 100 points Wednesday led by gains in banking stocks amid continued buying by foreign investors

Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI) The BSE benchmark Sensex rose over 100 points Wednesday led by gains in banking stocks amid continued buying by foreign investors. The 30-share index was trading 134.95 points, or 0.36 per cent, higher at 37,670.61, while the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 22.10 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 11,323.30.

In the previous session, the BSE gauge settled 481.56 points, or 1.30 per cent, higher at 37,535.66. The broader Nifty closed with gains of 133.15 points, or 1.19 per cent, at 11,301.20. Top gainers in early trade include HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, RIL, SBI and Infosys, rising up to 2.58 per cent. While, ONGC, NTPC, Coal India, Vedanta and Bharti Airtel fell up to 2.17 per were trading in the red.

Domestic equities extended their gains for the third session, driven by positive factors like sustained foreign fund inflows, stronger rupee and chances of the incumbent NDA government coming for a second term, experts said. On a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 2,477.72 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 990.48 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

However, investors turned cautious, capping gains on bourses, after retail inflation jumped to a four-month high of 2.57 per cent in February, and industrial growth slipped to 1.7 per cent on account of manufacturing sector slowdown, traders said. According to the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) expanded by just 1.7 per cent in January, significantly down from 7.5 per cent growth in the year-ago month.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.59 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.37 per cent, Kospi shed 0.88 per cent, and Japan's Nikkei cracked 1.35 per cent in early trade. On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.38 per cent lower on Tuesday. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated marginally against US dollar to 69.76. The benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.24 per cent to USD 66.83 per barrel.