Markets Live: Sensex, Nifty Extend Gains; Gujarat Gas At Record High

Indian equities opened higher for the sixth straight day, extendng gains from their best weekly advance in 10 months.

The S&P BSE Sensex opened 0.8% higher at 51,146 while the NSE Nifty 50 index opened above the mark of 15,000 at 15,064, up 1%.

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank index opened with gains of over 400 points or 1.2% above the mark of 36,000 while the PSU Bank index also gained 1.3% at the start of trade.

Nifty I.T. and Nifty Media indices were up 1% each while Metals and Pharma indices gained 0.7% each.

Broader markets have opened in-line with the benchmark indices. The Nifty Midcap index opened 0.9% higher while the Smallcap index gained 0.9% at the start of trade.

Good Morning!

Indian equities reported their best week in 10 months on Friday, led by banking stocks. Sentiment remained risk-on post the Union Budget as the NSE Nifty 50 index not only crossed the 14,000 mark, but also hit 15,000 intraday in the same week.

State Bank of India was the top index gainer last week, gaining more than 40% -- the most since March 1992.

Futures are indicating another positive start to today's session. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.6% to 15,028 as of 7:55 a.m. on Monday.

Divi's Laboratories, Britannia Industries, Affle India, JK Cement, among others, may react to their quarterly results.

BPCL is the only Nifty 50 company to report earnings today, along with non-Nifty 50 stocks like Aditya Birla Fashion, Balkrishna Industries, Balaji Amines, Torrent Pharma, among others.

In the Asia-Pacific, the Topix index was on course for its highest close since 1991. Futures on the Dow Jones are trading with gains of over 120 points.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to $57.45 per barrel, while gold was flat at $1,814.39/Oz.