INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty registered a gap-up start to Monday's session on hopes that the US Fed will sound
dovish in its policy meet next week.
A fall in India's trade deficit print to a 17-month low in February, on a sharp decline in import of
oil, gold and electronics, was seen as a major positive by investors
Besides, rupee's continuous rise against the US dollar, sustained FPI inflow, easing crude oil prices and positive global cues boosted
the risk appetite of investors
The rupee opened 18 paise higher at 68.92 against the US dollar and global crude oil prices eased on concerns over fall in global
demand.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Rs 4,323.49 crore worth of domestic stocks on Friday, data available with NSE suggested
Sensex jumped about 300 points, while Nifty topped 11,510 in early deals
Around 9:25 am, the BSE benchmark Sensex was 261 points, or 0.69 per cent, up at 38,285
The NSE Nifty was 77 points, or 0.68 per cent, up at 11,504 at that time
BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were 0.61 per cent and 0.51 per cent up, respectively
Shares of Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank were among the top gainers in the Sensex
index.
Maruti, however, declined nearly 3 per cent to trade as the top loser in the Sensex kitty
Vedanta, NTPC, Sun Pharma and Hindustan Unilever were also in the red.
Among the sectoral indices on BSE, only healthcare and auto were
trading with nominal losses, due to losses in shares of Lupin, Sun Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla, Maruti, Eicher Motors
and Motherson Sumi Systems.
