Equities reverse four days of losses, Bharti Infratel gains by 7 pc

Equity benchmark indices were upbeat during early hours on Wednesday in line with Asian peers after four days of losses.

As reports of a slight decline in the number of new coronavirus cases in China poured in, investors hoped that officials will roll out more stimulus to support the world's second-largest economy.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex edged higher by 248 points or 0.61 per cent to 41,138 while the Nifty 50 rose by 69 points at 12,062.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty pharma and realty up by 1.6 per cent each and metal by 1.4 per cent.

Among stocks, Bharti Infratel gained by 7.1 per cent at Rs 224.90 per share. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained by 1.53 per cent to Rs 1,489.90 per share.

The other prominent gainers were NTPC, Coal India, ONGC, Vedanta, Grasim, Nestle India and Axis Bank. However, Tata Motors dropped by 2.5 per cent and Hero MotoCorp by 0.04 per cent.

Yes Bank slipped by 1.5 per cent after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) said it will cease to be a part of Nifty 50 index from March 27.

Meanwhile, Asian shares edged cautiously higher as investors tried to shake off worries about the coronavirus epidemic after a slight decline in the number of new cases.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan gained marginally by 0.03 per cent while Chinese shares erased early declines to trade 0.15 per cent higher. Japan's Nikkei stock index rose by 0.5 per cent.