Sensex firms up 78 pts in early trade on F&O expiry

Continuing its upmove for the third straight session, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose nearly 78 points to 28,137.93 in early trade today with participants indulging in short-covering in view of August derivatives series expiry.
The 30-share index was trading higher by 77.99 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 28,137.93. The gauge had gained 74.40 points in the previous two sessions.
All the sectoral indices led by healthare, FMCG, auto and oil&gas trading in the green, rising by up to 0.65 per cent.
The NSE Nifty rose 25.60 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,675.90 in early trade.
Short-covering by participants with today being the last trading session of August series contracts in the derivatives segment supported the upmove.

Major gainers that supported the key indices were Cipla, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, ITC Ltd, Lupin, Sun Pharma, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, TCS and Dr Reddy's, gaining by up to 1.43 per cent.

On the other hand, other Asian markets were trading in the negative zone in their early trade, taking weak lead from overnight losses on the US markets as investors await a key speech by Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen later this week.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.07 per cent while Japan's Nikkei down by 0.25 per cent in early trade today. The Shanghai Composite Index too was inched lower by 1.08 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.35 per cent lower yesterday.