Sensex, Nifty rise in early trade

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Monday, mainly on account of buying in index majors Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank as well as positive sentiments in the US market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 137.55 points to 57,664.65 points in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 46.05 points to 16,991.10 points.

Among the Sensex firms, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, AXIS Bank and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were in the red while Japan was in the green.

The US markets ended higher on Friday.

"Markets may see a firm opening in Monday's trade on the back of buoyancy in SGX Nifty after the US market closed higher on Friday.

"Benchmark Nifty is likely to regain the psychological level of 17,000, but intra-day gyration could be seen as traders would be wary of weakness in other Asian indices amid concerns over global financial health," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-market note.

The 30-share BSE benchmark declined 398.18 points or 0.69 per cent to finish at 57,527.10 points on Friday. The Nifty fell 131.85 points or 0.77 per cent to end at 16,945.05 points.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.09 per cent to USD 74.92 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,720.44 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.