Sensex, Nifty Edge Higher; Axis Bank Falls After September Quarter Earnings

Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC, TCS and Sun Pharma were among the top movers in the Sensex.

The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Wednesday led by gains in Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC, TCS and Sun Pharma. However, the upside was caped owing to weakness in Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries. The Sensex rose as much as 210 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 18,331.30. Meanwhile, other Asian markets were trading lower with Japan's Nikkei down 0.55 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index falling 1.46 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI declining 0.76 per cent and Shanghai Composite index down 0.7 per cent.

As of 9:27 am, the Sensex was up 24 points at 61,374 and Nifty 50 index advanced 12 points to 18,280.

Overnight, equity markets gained globally on Tuesday as upbeat corporate earnings buoyed investor appetite for riskier investments, while gold prices fell nearly 1 per cent.

On Wall Street, Facebook Inc was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, after the company warned that Apple Inc's new privacy changes would weigh on its digital business.