Sensex, Nifty edge higher led by gains in Maruti Suzuki

The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Tuesday led by gains in the country's largest car maker - Maruti Suzuki after the stock rose as much as 4.32 per cent, staging its biggest single-day move in over five months, on the back of multiple block deals on the stock exchanges. The Sensex rose as much as 209 points and Nifty 50 index was trading above its important psychological level of 24,350.

As of 9:32 am, the Sensex was up 207 points at 80,175 and Nifty 50 index rose 50 points to 24,370.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading higher ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for clues for the rate path. Japan's Nikkei rose 2 per cent to hit fresh record high. South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite declined as sentiment towards Chinese shares remains subdued in the aftermath of imposition of steep tariffs on import of Chinese electric vehicles.

Overnight, US stocks largely ended on a flat note.

Back home, buying was visible across the board as all the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Consumer Durable index's 1.2 per cent gain. Nifty Auto, Media, Metal, PSU Bank and Realty indices also rose between 0.3-1 per cent.

On the other hand, select IT shares were facing selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares were outperforming their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.63 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index climbed 0.88 per cent.

Maruti Suzuki was top Nifty gainer, the stock roses over 4 per cent to Rs 12,567 on the back of multiple block deals. Titan, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Enterprises, Cipla, Britannia, Tata Steel and Tata Motors also rose between 0.6-1.6 per cent.

On the flipside, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tech Mahindra, Shriram Finance, Infosys, Ultratech Cement, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,060 shares were advancing while 1,111 were declining on the BSE.