Sensex firms up 71 points on Asian cues

A heightened pace of buying led to more gains as the benchmark Sensex ticked up 71 points tracking a recovery in Asian markets and on the back of a rally in realty and oil and gas stocks after the government pressed the pedal on its reforms momentum.
Capital goods, energy, banking, IT, FMCG and auto all led to the upmove.
The BSE Sensex opened on a higher note before trading at 24,694.34 at 1135 hours, up 71 points, or 0.29 per cent.
The NSE Nifty-50 also rose 19.55 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 7,505.70.
Adani Ports (up 2.50 per cent) led from the front, followed by Axis Bank (1.59 per cent), Maruti (1.46 per cent) and ITC 1.34 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,063.11 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Most Asian indices bounced back after an initial slide. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.89 per cent followed by Nikkei 0.76 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.25 per cent though.
The US market ended almost flat yesterday as investors shrugged off new easing measures from ECB and crude futures declined.