Indian Markets Open Higher; Sensex Up 150 Points

Indian stock markets opened higher on Wednesday. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 150 points, or 0.57 percent at 26454.97. The 30-share index touched a high of 26,621.40 in the morning trade. The Nifty50 rose 0.37 percent to 8138.65, after touching a high of 8,210.05 in morning trade.

The Indian rupee rose around 7 paise to 67.69 versus the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. The rupee tumbled around 50 paise to close at 67.74 against the dollar on Tuesday. The dollar index was trading at 100.26.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index rose 1.1 percent, while the BSE S&P Smallcap Index gained around 1.4 percent.

Direxion Daily India Bull 2X Shares INDL rose 2.13 percent to close at $44.80 on Tuesday, while PowerShares India Portfolio (ETF) PIN gained 0.58 percent to close at $19.17.

US stock markets closed higher overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.29 percent, the S&P500 index gaining 0.75 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.10 percent.

US WTI crude futures on the NYMEX dropped 0.13 percent to trade at $46.33 per barrel.

Top market movers among the BSE index are as follows

• Vijay Shanthi Builders Ltd. rose about 20 percent to 11.15 INR.
• FCS Software Solutions Ltd. rose 17 percent to 0.35 INR.
• Tulsi Extrusions Ltd. shares surged 14 percent to 5.00 INR.
• Manaksia Coated Metals & Industries Ltd. shares gained around 13 percent to 7.75 INR.

• Jaykay Enterprises Ltd. dropped around 16 percent to 3.90 INR.
• TCFC Finance Ltd. fell around 16 percent to 27.05 INR.
• Anar Industries Ltd. slipped 10 percent to 85.00 INR.
• Piccadily Sugar and Allied Industries Ltd. shares declined 14 percent to 8.36 INR.