Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened on a positive note on Wednesday supported by persistent foreign capital inflows.

However, gains were capped as most of the Asian shares turned negative in line with an overnight drop in US stocks. Rising crude oil prices also weighed on investor sentiment.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 64.24 points or 0.11 per cent higher at 58,311.33. Similarly, Nifty advanced 22.05 points or 0.13 per cent to 17,402.05 in initial deals.

Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 0.93 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, L&T, M&M, Infosys, Nestle India, Reliance Industries, and Bharti Airtel.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC twins, HCL Tech and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the Sensex ended 69.33 points or 0.12 per cent higher at 58,247.09. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 24.70 points or 0.14 per cent to its fresh closing record of 17,380.

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

US equities ended with losses in the overnight session.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,649.60 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.38 per cent to $73.88 per barrel.

Meanwhile, India saw a single-day rise of 27,176 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally to 3,33,16,755, while the death toll climbed to 4,43,497 with 284 fresh fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The active cases have declined to 3,51,087 and comprise 1.05 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.62 per cent