Indian equity markets traded firmly in early trade on Wednesday, with benchmark indices extending gains amid buying interest in heavyweight stocks across energy, banking, and FMCG sectors.

At around 9:16 am, the BSE Sensex was up 288.6 points, or 0.4%, at 74,207.4, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 74.7 points, or 0.3%, to trade at 23,316.8. Market breadth remained positive, with advancing shares significantly outnumbering declining stocks on the NSE.

Reliance Industries emerged as the largest contributor to benchmark gains, rising 1.4%. Financial stocks also supported the rally, with HDFC Bank advancing 0.5% and State Bank of India gaining 0.6%. Other notable gainers included Bajaj Auto, Hindustan Unilever, Bharat Electronics, Larsen & Toubro, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and Apollo Hospitals.

Sectorally, FMCG stocks led the market higher, with the Nifty FMCG index gaining 0.55%. Banking shares also remained strong, as the Nifty Bank index rose 0.22% and the PSU Bank index added 0.3%. Infrastructure, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, media, and private banking indices also traded in positive territory.

However, weakness persisted in metal and information technology stocks. The Nifty Metal index declined 0.74%, making it the worst-performing sector during early trade. Hindalco Industries fell nearly 2%, while Infosys dropped 1.6% after turning ex-dividend. Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies also traded lower, weighing on the IT segment. Other laggards included Bajaj Finserv, Shriram Finance, SBI Life Insurance, Tata Consumer Products, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, and Tata Steel.

Broader markets posted modest gains, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rising 0.06% and 0.33%, respectively.

Market sentiment remained relatively resilient despite renewed tensions between the United States and Iran. Analysts noted that the limited reaction in crude oil prices helped ease investor concerns. According to market experts, Brent crude prices remained below key levels, reducing fears of a sharp inflationary impact on the Indian economy.

Technical analysts indicated that the Nifty has formed a short-term reversal pattern after finding support near the 23,100 level. As long as the index remains above this support zone, the ongoing pullback could extend towards the 23,450–23,500 range.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee opened weaker by 19 paise at 95.54 against the US dollar compared to its previous close of 95.35.