Sensex Jumps Over 350 Points, Nifty Above 10,300

The Sensex rebounded by 366 points to hit 33,673 on Monday amid higher global markets. The Nifty added 115 points to touch an intraday high of 10,342 in morning deals. Gains were broad-based with the IT, FMCG and metal shares trading around 1-2 per cent higher. Brokers said fresh buying by investors and foreign funds amid a firm trend in other Asian bourses improved market sentiment. A relief rally swept across the other Asian share markets, after the latest US jobs data managed to impress with its strength while also easing fears of inflation and faster rate hikes, a neat feat that whetted risk appetites globally. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 1.1 per cent, for a third session of gains. Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.5 per cent.

Macroeconomic data namely CPI (Consumer Price Index) and IIP (Index of Industrial Production) will be released later in the day. Besides, developments on the global trade front along with the direction of foreign funds will also determine the course of key Indian equity indices, according to market observers.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 550.36 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 65.00 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

At 11:01 am, 38 stocks on the Nifty 50 were trading in the positive zone. Among the top gainers on the 50-scrip Nifty were HCL Tech, ITC, Wipro, Vedanta and Infosys - trading with gains around 2-3 per cent. Other gainers included Bharti Airtel, Indian Oil, TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC and Sun Pharma - up between 1 per cent and 1.6 per cent.

On the other hand, Coal India, SBI and Bosch were among the top losers - down between 0.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent.

Last week, the Indian equity markets were engulfed by bears as global trade war fears along with the turmoil in the domestic banking sector continued to erode the risk-taking appetite of investors. The Sensex shed 739.8 points, or 2.17 per cent, for the week to close at 33,307.14 while the Nifty settled 231.5 points, or 2.21 per cent, lower at 10,226.85.

US data showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by 3,13,000 jobs last month, but annual growth in average hourly earnings slowed to 2.6 per cent after a spike in January. Wall Street was happy to take the data at face value with the Dow jumping 1.77 per cent, the S&P 500 gaining 1.74 per cent and the Nasdaq 1.79 per cent on Friday. For the week, the S&P rose 3.5 per cent, the Dow 3.25 per cent and Nasdaq 4.2 per cent.

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On March 8, US President Donald Trump set import tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, to come into force in 15 days, stoking fears of a tit-for-tat trade war that could drive up prices and depress growth around the globe.

(With agency inputs)