Sensex Opens Over 100 Points Higher, Nifty Bank Hits Record High

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes opened higher in trade on Monday tracking positive Asian cues as investors welcomed a trade agreement between Beijing and Washington over the weekend, but enthusiasm was capped by lingering scepticism about the deal and ongoing relations between China and the United States. The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 175 points and the NSE Nifty 50 index advanced 48 points to hit an intraday high of 12,086.70.

As of 9:18 am, the Sensex was up 145 points or 0.35 per cent at 41,155 and the NSE Nifty 50 index was up 36 points at 12,122.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Sunday said a deal was "totally done", notwithstanding some needed revisions, and would nearly double U.S. exports to China over the next two years.

That helped push the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which had touched its highest level since April 24 on Friday, up 0.27 per cent.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 led the way as it jumped 1.24 per cent, while shares in Taiwan and South Korea added about 0.1 per cent.

All the 11 sector gauges, except Nifty Pharma index, compiled by National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty IT index's 0.7 per cent gain.

The gauge of banking shares - Nifty Bank index rose as much as 173 points to hit a record high of 32,186.95. Nifty Metal, Media and Nifty Private Bank indexes also rose around 0.2 per cent each.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading with mild gains as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.14 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.3 per cent.

Kotak Mahindra Bank was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock rose 2 per cent to Rs 1,728. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Infratel, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, Tata Consultancy Services, UPL, Yes Bank and Britannia Industries were also among the gainers.

On the flipsie, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, Indian Oil, ITC, UltraTech Cement, Coal India and Grasim Industries were among the laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 744 shares were trading higher while 450 were declining on the BSE.

(With inputs from Reuters)