Indian equity benchmark Sensex opened on a flat note on Wednesday by gaining over 100 points amid a largely positive trend in Asian markets.

Last week, the positivity of the markets was driven by a steady decline in Covid cases. On Wednesday India reported 2,08,921 Covid-19 infections, pushing the overall tally of cases to 2,71,57,795.

The death toll crossed 4,000-mark by climbing to 3,11,388 with 4,157 fatalities reported in a 24-hour period.

Wednesday’s market was led by gains in index majors HDFC, Reliance Industries, and Infosys.

BSE index was trading 125.76 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 50,763.29, and the broader NSE Nifty surged 25.75 points or 0.17 per cent to 15,234.20.

Titan, Sun Pharma, M&M, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, HUL, and Asian Paints were among the top gainers.

PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, and Kotak Bank were among the laggards.

Sensex settled 14.37 points or 0.03 per cent lower at 50,637.53, while Nifty inched up 10.75 points or 0.07 per cent to 15,208.45 in the previous session.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 959.77 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.

"A sharp drop in daily caseload in the second wave (remaining below 2 lakhs for two days) and improvement in recovery rates have already emboldened investors in the last one week. Further, the robust fourth quarter of 2020-21 earnings and favourable commentaries from companies' managements also aided to lift sentiments," said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

This is the second day in a row that Covid positivity rate has remained below 10 per cent, the ministry said.

The highest number of Covid tests were conducted on Tuesday.

US equities ended with a marginal decline as weaker-than-expected reading on consumer confidence data weighed on sentiments, he said.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 SPX declined to 4,188.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA shrunk 0.2 per cent and settled at 34,312.46. The Nasdaq COMP fell less than 0.1 per cent to 13,657.17.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Seoul was in the red.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.23 per cent lower at $68.33 per barrel.