Sensex, Nifty rally over positive results from Asian market

Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Monday as investors tracked positive cues from Asian markets and awaited results of major corporate earnings. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up 72 points at 38,839 while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 21 points to 11,665.

At the National Stock Exchange, all sectoral indices except pharma were in the green. Shares of SpiceJet rose over 5 per cent after the airline announced plans to launch new flights to international destinations from May-end.

Tata Motors gained 4.4 per cent, Coal India 2.5 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services 2.4 per cent, Vedanta 1.9 per cent and Hindalco 1.8 per cent. But Infosys dropped 2.5 per cent and Bharti Airtel 1.6 per cent. Bharat Petroleum, Sun Pharma and GAIL also lost marginally.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were at nine-month highs as investors welcomed positive news on US-China trade talks. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hoped the negotiations were approaching a final lap. Strong Chinese export and bank loan data also contributed to the rally.