Nifty, Sensex open higher tracking Asian peers; FMCG, IT stocks rise

Stock market news: Benchmark indices opened higher on Wednesday, tracking Asian peers and strong global cues ahead of US inflation figures.

The blue-chip S&P BSE Sensex was trading 68.44 points higher at 73,173.05, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 was trading 37.8 points higher at 22,255.65 as of 9:32 am.

Cipla spearheaded the market's gains with a remarkable 5 per cent surge at the opening bell. This uptick came in the wake of a report on Tuesday, disclosing the promoter group's intention to sell a stake worth $316 million through a block deal. Consequently, Nifty Pharma stocks saw a notable uptick of 0.9 per cent, with Cipla poised to emerge as the top percentage gainer on the benchmark index.

Simultaneously, telecom behemoth Bharti Airtel, a constituent of the Nifty, registered a 1.5 per cent increase following the release of its financial results, securing a spot among the top early gainers on the benchmark index.

Canara Bank demonstrated a 3 per cent surge in early trading. This surge followed the bank's inclusion in index operator MSCI's Emerging Market index, alongside twelve other entities, as part of the quarterly rebalancing.

(With Reuters inputs.)