Sensex recovers 23 points in cautious early trade

The benchmark Sensex opened on a cautious note to recover almost 23 points in early trade today on fresh buying by investors in select blue-chips amid foreign fund inflows and mixed Asian cues. However, investors turned cautious ahead of the exit poll results due tomorrow for the ongoing assembly elections. Concerns have also grown over a hike in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve next week.

The 30-share index was trading higher by 22.76 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 29,022.32 with bank, healthcare, power, capital goods and FMCG leading the recovery. The gauge had lost 48.63 points yesterday on



profit-booking and the prospect of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates next week.

The NSE Nifty was up 10.15 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 8,957.05 in early trade.

Brokers said that buying by investors in select blue-chip stocks coupled with a mixed trend in other regional markets influenced sentiment here. Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.48 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.02 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei was down 0.50 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.14 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.