Sensex climbs over 200 pts, Nifty above 17,200; Nazara, Metro Brands surge up to 13%

NEW DELHI: Benchmark indices opened higher in Monday's trade, led by buying in and select auto, banking and financial stocks.

At 9.22 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 246 points or 0.43 per cent higher at 57,816.70. Nifty50 was trading at 17,236.70, up 78.45 points or 0.46 per cent. The midcap and smallcap indices gained up to 0.8 per cent each.

"The 9 per cent rally in Nifty50 in July is in sync with the rally in S&P500. The pullback in the US and other developed markets was facilitated by the strong employment numbers and resilience of the US economy. The sharp decline in the dollar index from above 109 to below 106 now indicates that the flight to the safety of the dollar is over for now," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at .

Nair said the Nifty50 valuations are again moving to the higher side and that investors have to exercise caution. Among Sensex stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped 5.64 per cent to Rs 1,230.40. advanced 2.3 per cent YoY to Rs 8,975. Reliance Industries, Dr Reddy's Labs, , and advanced up to 1.2 per cent.

fell 1.71 per cent to Rs 927.45. , , , TCS and declined up to 1 per cent.

Among midcaps, , , IGL and climbed 3-4 per cent. Nazara and Metro Brands, among smallcaps, surged 12-13 per cent.

"Nifty50 has risen 1,975 points in the past six weeks. The range of 17,442-17,640 could be the next resistance band for the index while 16,752 could be the support. The index could make a new high in the current week, before running into correction the week after," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, Securities.

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