Sensex gains nearly 1.5 pct; banks, IT stocks lead

Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex gains 1.4 percent and the broader Nifty is up 1.36 percent, snapping a three-day losing streak.

Banking stocks gained on value-buying. State Bank of India gained 2.51 percent, while ICICI Bank is up 3.2 percent.

Reliance Industries is trading 1.6 percent higher ahead of its earnings later in the day.

Gains were led by technology stocks, which gained after top software exporter Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies posted better-than-expected earnings.

However, foreign investors, who have pumped $4.8 billion into Indian shares so far this year, sold shares worth of 446.9 million rupees ($7.4 million) on Wednesday, provisional exchange data shows, marking their third consecutive session of outflows.

 

(Reporting by Indulal P)