Mumbai (Maharashtra): Equity benchmark indices were in the positive zone during early hours on Thursday as Asian shares rose with a rebound in crude prices from historic lows.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 201 points or 0.64 per cent at 31,581 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 76 points or 0.83 per cent at 9,264.

Except for Nifty auto, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with thins margins.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment jumped by 7.6 per cent to Rs 163.40 per share after Florida Retirement System (FRS) reportedly bought over half a per cent stake in the company a day earlier. FRS acquired 51.09 lakh equity shares at Rs 141.29 per share.

FMCG major Britannia gained by 8.4 per cent at Rs 3,201 per unit while ONGC was up by 4.5 per cent at Rs 68.30.

Metal majors Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Vedanta were up by 3.3 per cent, 2.2 per cent and 2.1 per cent. Tata Motors too gained by 2.6 per cent at Rs 77.90 per share.

However, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti and Bajaj Finance traded with a negative bias.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets rose with a rebound in crude prices from historic lows and the promise of more US government aid to absorb the economic impact of coronavirus pandemic.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan was up by 0.5 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei climbed by 0.8 per cent. (ANI)