Sensex up 61 points in early trade

The BSE benchmark Sensex today rose by nearly 61 points in early trade on sustained buying by funds and retail investors mainly in power, capital goods, PSUs, oil and gas and healthcare sector stocks.
Rising for the third straight session, the 30-share barometer gained 60.88 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 19,456.69. In the past two sessions, Sensex has gone up by nearly 844 points.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty traded 14.15 points, or 0.24 per cent, higher at 5,856.35.
Brokers said sentiment remained bullish after the government last week approved near doubling of natural gas prices to USD 8.4 from April 1 next year.

Besides, further recovery in rupee's value against the dollar also supported the upside, they said.
Stocks of oil companies such as HPCL and BPCL were in good demand following a hike in petrol prices.
Meanwhile, in the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.78 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.30 per cent in early trade today.