Mumbai, April 16 (IANS) The Indian stock markets on Wednesday continued their upward journey for the third straight trading session, with strong buying seen in financial stocks, especially private banks and some oil and gas shares.

The Sensex opened 262 points higher at 76,996 but slipped into the red to a low of 76,544 amid weak global cues as US-China trade tensions escalated. It later rebounded, rising 556 points from the day's low to a high of 77,110, and ended the session at 77,044, up 309 points or 0.4 per cent.

With this, the Sensex has gained 3,197 points in the last three trading sessions.

The Nifty also showed similar movement. It touched a low of 23,273 before recovering to a high of 23,452. The index ended the day near its high, at 23,433, gaining 104.60 points or 0.45 per cent. In the last three days, the Nifty has risen by 1,038 points.

Among the major gainers on the Nifty were IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Trent, ONGC and Asian Paints.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance and Tata Motors were among the top losers. Sector-wise, all indices except auto ended in the green.

Media, PSU banks, and oil and gas stocks were the best performers with gains of 1-2 per cent. The broader market also showed strength, as both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose by 0.5 per cent each.

Meanwhile, equity markets in other Asian countries remained under pressure as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose up to 245 per cent tariff on Chinese imports which affected investor sentiment.

The Hang Seng and Taiwan indices dropped nearly 2 per cent each, while Kospi and Nikkei were down more than 1 per cent.

“On the daily chart, the index has closed above the 100-EMA for the second consecutive session. Support is now placed at 23,300, and a positive sentiment is likely to prevail as long as it remains above this level,” Rupak De of LKP Securities said.

Dilip Parmar from HDFC Securities said that bolstered by foreign investment inflows, a weaker US dollar, and encouraging high-frequency economic data, the rupee has appreciated for the third consecutive day. The near-term outlook suggests a bearish bias for the USD-INR with support level around 85.40 and resistance 86.05.