Sensex advanced over 100 points in early trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in index heavyweights HDFC twins, Asian Paints and TCS, while Nifty rose 25.10 points or 0.16 per cent to 15,843.35.

Daily Covid-19 numbers continued to decline across India, with single day rise in infection of 43,733 reported in the government update on Wednesday.

After starting on a negative note, the 30-share BSE index turned positive to trade 119.36 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 52,980.54 in initial deals. HDFC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising nearly 2 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Titan, M&M, UltraTech Cement, HUL and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 18.82 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 52,861.18, and Nifty fell 16.10 points or 0.1 per cent to 15,818.25.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 543.30 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.

Notably, sharp rise in crude prices and strengthening dollar index weighed on sentiments in recent weeks. Accordingly, FIIs have turned out as large net sellers, said Binod Modi, head of strategy at Reliance Securities. However, improving business momentum with ease of business curbs started offering comfort, he added. US equities ended mixed as supply chain bottlenecks started weighing on the economy, Modi said.

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

International oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.15 per cent to $74.42 per barrel.