Sensex gains 146 points on global cues

Market benchmark Sensex surged over 146 points in opening trade on Monday on fresh buying by domestic institutional investors amid a strengthening rupee.

Asian markets were also trading in the green as weaker-than-expected U.S. wage growth helped calm investor fears about rising interest rates and inflation.

Meanwhile, investors digested last week’s trade talks between the U.S. and China in Beijing, where consensus emerged on some issues.

The 30-share Sensex rose by 146.18 points, or 0.41%, to 35,061.56 in early trade. The gauge had lost 261.04 points in the previous two sessions.

All the sectoral indices, led by consumer durables, realty, IT, teck and banking, were trading in the green with gains of up to 1.56%.

The broad-based NSE Nifty too rose by 41.55 points or 0.39% to 10,659.80.

Major gainers that supported the recovery were M&M, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Wipro, Kotak Bank, ONGC, ITC, Tata Steel, SBI, RIL, Tata Motors, L&T and Yes Bank, rising up to 1.76%.

Brokers said buying by domestic institutional investors and retail investors amid a firm trend at other Asian bourses following strong closing on Wall Street led the markets higher.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors bought shares worth a net ₹1,084.09 crore, while foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth ₹1,628.23 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.52% and Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.06%, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.45% in early trade.

The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.39% higher in Friday’s trade.