Sensex up 56 points in morning trade

Mumbai, May 15: The benchmark

rose 56 points in morning

today on fresh buying in consumer durables, power, realty and FMCG sectors amid persistent capital inflows by foreign funds, despite mixed Asian cues.

Key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade as the market sentiment was boosted by data showing foreign funds made substantial purchases of Indian stocks yesterday, ahead of the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections.

The 30-share index Sensex resumed slightly lower at 23,809.42 on initial selling, but recovered immediately to a high of 23,971.78 before quoting at 23,870.94 at 1000 hours. It showed a gain of 55.82 points, or 0.23 per cent, from its last close. The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved up by 13.40 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 7,122.15 at 1000 hours.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,520.08 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Major gainers were Sun Pharma (1.83 per cent), NTPC (1.75 per cent), Gail India (1.71 per cent), Tata Power (1.24 per cent) and HUL (0.90 per cent). Most Asian stocks fell in early trade. Key benchmark indices in South Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan were off between 0.03 to 0.88 per cent while indices in Singapore and Hong Kong were up between 0.22 to 0.3 per cent.

PTI