Sensex jumps nearly 400 points in early trade; Nifty tops 12,000

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 39.39 crore on a net basis on Friday.

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied nearly 400 points in opening trade on Monday, led by gains in index-heavyweights HDFC, Infosys and Reliance Industries amid largely positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE index was trading over 396 points or 0.98 percent higher at 40,905.49, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 107.85 points or 0.91 per cent to 12,022.05.

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SBI was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by ITC, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, NTPC, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Kotak Bank.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Titan, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the Sensex closed 326.82 points or 0.81 per cent higher at 40,509.49, while the Nifty ended 79.60 points or 0.67 per cent up at 11,914.20.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 39.39 crore on a net basis on Friday.

According to Arjun Mahajan, Head – Institutional Business at Reliance Securities, Indian equities continue to look good with favourable monetary policy and expectations of domestic fiscal stimulus.

IT, agro chemical, pharma and select infra/real estate companies are likely to be in focus, he noted.

Further, Wall Street remained resilient throughout last week amid possibility over fiscal stimulus and fading uncertainty over outcome of election, he said, adding that the fiscal stimulus talk should continue to offer support to emerging equities.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was in the red.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.93 per cent lower at USD 42.45 per barrel.