Sensex gains 44 points in opening trade

The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered by over 44 points in opening trade today on the back of selective buying by funds as well as retail investors at prevailing levels.

The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered by over 44 points in opening trade on Friday on the back of selective buying by funds as well as retail investors at prevailing levels.

The 30-share BSE index, which lost 74.47 points in on Thursday's volatile session, recovered by 44.03 points, or 0.26%, to 16,927.95 in the first few minutes of trade today on buying in fundamentally strong stocks available at attractive levels.

In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index moved up by 11.20 points, or 0.22%, to 5,089.05.

A moderate recovery in healthcare, IT, consumer durables and oil and gas sector stocks helped the Sensex trade in the positive zone.

Brokers attributed the initial recovery in select counters to fresh buying by funds and retail investors, but a weakening trend in global markets cast a shadow over the trading sentiment at home.

Meanwhile, in the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei Index was trading marginally lower by 0.11%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.24% in early trade today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.35% down in yesterday's trade.