Sensex rises for third straight day; trades above 25,600 level

Sensex rises for third straight day; trades above 25,600 levelMumbai - The benchmark BSE Sensex on Thursday rose over 60 points in early trade, extending gains for the third straight day as funds and retail investors made selective buying ahead of the TCS and Bajaj Auto quarterly earnings.

The 30-share index gained 60.75 points, or 0.23 percent, to 25,610.47 with IT, power, FMCG, healthcare and consumer durable sector stocks leading the rise. The index had gained 542.74 points in the last two sessions.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 15.65 points, 0.20 percent, to 7,640.05.

Brokers said selective buying by participants ahead of quarterly results of TCS and Bajaj later in the day amid a mixed trend on other Asian bourses mainly influenced the sentiment.

Stocks of TCS rose 1.14 percent to Rs 2,428.75 and Bajaj Auto was up 0.71 per cent to Rs 2,155.55. In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.13 percent, while Japan's Nikkei moved up by 0.20 points in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at yet another record high by rising 0.45 percent in Wednesday's trade on strong earnings and a positive outlook on the US economy by the Federal Reserve. (PTI)