Sensex rises 343 points in early trade, Nifty above 11,180

New Delhi: Markets opened in green on Wednesday led by rally in banking and financials.

The BSE Sensex rose 343.36 points or 0.91 percent to 38,031.27 in early trade while the NSE Nifty jumped 90.10 points or 0.81 percent to 11,185.35.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Ultrachem, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, SBI, RIL, Bajaj Finserve, Maruti, Sun Pharma, Asian Paint, rising upto 3.14 percent. Major losers in the Sensex pack were Powergrid, Nestle, falling upto 1.18 percent.

A Reuters report said Hong Kong futures edged down 0.07%. Australian shares were also poised to open lower as COVID-19 rose in the country. Nikkei futures were trading 0.3% below the Nikkei 225 index`s previous close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.62%, the S&P 500 rose 0.36% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.35%.

On Wednesday, oil prices edged higher, with Brent on track for a five-month high, on hopes for more stimulus and signs America may be making progress on controlling the coronavirus spread. Brent crude futures rose $0.29 to $44.44 a barrel. U.S. crude futures gained $0.59 to $41.6 a barrel.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex soared 748.31 points or 2.03 per cent higher at 37,687.91, while the NSE Nifty zoomed 203.65 points or 1.87 percent to finish at 11,095.25.