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Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Wednesday, amid mixed cues from global peers, as investors await more quarterly earnings reports from India Inc for direction.

After two days of losses, BSE Sensex rose 334.37 points or 0.5 percent to 58,910.74 and the broader blue-chip index Nifty50 started the day at 17,599.90, up 69.6 or 0.3 percent from its previous close.

UPL, ONGC, JSW Steel, Apollo Hospitals, Coal India, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Larsen and Toubro were among the top gainer in the Nifty pack. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Asian Paints, Titan, HDFC Bank, Divi's Lab, Cipla, and TCS were among the laggards.

In the Sensex pack, Reliance, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Larsen and Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, and ITC were the top contributors to opening deals.

However, according to Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, volatility would continue amid uncertainty due to rising inflation levels, US bond yields and a fresh surge in oil prices.

“Market turbulence may be a theme in today’s trading session as Dalal Street heads for a long weekend,” he said, adding stock selection shall become more important as investors need to distinguish which companies are most impacted by rising costs, and which have the pricing power to pass those higher costs through to consumers and maintain their profit margins.

“Focus will also be on Infosys' Q4 results which will be the biggest catalyst for the day. The street will spy with one big eye on the management commentary — primarily on future outlook, attrition rates, and deal momentum,” Tapse said.

Meanwhile, retail inflation soared to a 17-month high of 6.95 percent in March, and remained above the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, while factory output grew just 1.7 percent in February, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Global market

In Asia, markets were trading mostly higher, with Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo quoting in the green, while Shanghai was marginally lower in mid-session deals. Stocks in the US ended marginally lower on Tuesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude gained marginally by 0.05 percent to $104.69 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 3,128.39 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

With PTI inputs