Equity benchmark indices fluctuated between gains and losses during early hours on Wednesday as investor focus globally swung between concerns about a new faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus and hopes that more US fiscal aid will propel an economic recovery.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 137 points or 0.3 per cent at 46,144 while the Nifty 50 surged ahead by 45 points or 0.33 per cent to 13,511.
All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty realty rising by 3.2 per cent, IT by 1.4 per cent, pharma and auto by 1 per cent each.
Among stocks, Wipro gained by 2.4 per cent to Rs 372.90 per share while Infosys was up by 1.6 per cent and HCL Technology by 1.3 per cent.
Realty major Godrej Properties advanced by 6 per cent to Rs 1,351.35 per share while DLF Ltd was up by 2.4 per cent to Rs 225.
The other major winners were Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Cipla, Bajaj Finance and IndusInd Bank. However, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, ONGC and IndianOil Corporation showed marginal losses.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks steadied with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan up by 0.1 per cent after three days of declines.
Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.1 per cent although gains were concentrated in healthcare and technology stocks.
( With inputs from ANI )
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