Indian markets continued to rise in early trade for the second day on Wednesday led by realty, IT, auto and metal stocks while banks and financials witnessed profit booking.

The 30-share benchmark index, BSE Sensex opened with a gain of 160.88 points or 0.27% at 59,166.15, while the broad based NSE Nifty started with a rise of 27.90 points or 0.16%, at 17,580.

At 11 a.m., the Sensex was trading up 131.61 points or 0.22% at 59,136.88 with 20 components gaining.  Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading higher by 27.90 points or 0.16% at 17,589 with 30 components gaining.  

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Tech Mahindra (4.17%), Mahindra & Mahindra (1.51%), NTPC (1.49%), HCL Technologies  (1.44%), IndusInd Bank (1.13%), Bajaj Finserv (1.11%),  and Infosys (1.06%).

On the other hand, HDFC (1.35%), HDFC Bank (0.88%), Hindustan Unilever (0.70%), Dr Reddy's (0.68%), ICICI Bank (0.67%), Axis Bank (0.59%), Nestle (0.51%) and State Bank of India (0.24%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Market breadth was positive with 2,025 advances against 946 declines.

On global front, Asian stocks and U.S. futures fell as traders assess the debt crisis at China Evergrande Group and gird for a Federal Reserve meeting that is expected to signal a reduction in stimulus later this year.  Equities in Japan and Australia retreated. China resumes trading later in the morning after a two-day holiday, while Hong Kong is shut. Nikkei Index declined marginally ahead of Bank of Japan policy meeting today. SGX Nifty declined 0.2% while Dow Future gained 0.2%.

U.S. stocks fell in the final minutes of trading a day after registering the biggest slide in four months as traders assessed risks from China’s crackdown on the real-estate sector and this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. Investors remain on the edge of their seats as they await today’s update from the Fed as well as details around if and how the Chinese government will respond to the Evergrande crisis. Dow Jones and S&P 500 declined 0.1% each but fell nearly 1% from the intra-day high.

European market, UK, France and Germany Index surged by 1% while China’s real estate crackdown eased and investors awaited this week’s Federal Reserve meeting for guidance on tapering. Bank of England interest rate decision will announce tomorrow.