Opening bell: Sensex advances 190 points to over 63,550, Nifty at 18,881

Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Monday, extending their previous day’s rally, amid fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 190.11 points to 63,574.69 in early trade. The NSE Nifty advanced 55.45 points to 18,881.45.

From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Nestle, Power Grid, Tata Consultancy Services, Axis Bank and HDFC were the major gainers.

Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, NTPC and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded lower.

The US markets ended lower on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.48 per cent to USD 75.48 a barrel.

“There are two significant trends in the market now: One, this rally is broad based with the participation of most sectors except large-cap IT. Two, mid and small-caps are outperforming large caps. This trend is likely to continue in the near-term.

“The FII buying support to the rally continues with an investment of ₹7,272 crore during the last 4 trading days,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹794.78 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

“FIIs continuing to infuse funds in local equities and India’s improving economic situation are the two positive catalysts that would cheer investors in an otherwise bleak global outlook,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The Sensex zoomed 466.95 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at a record closing high of 63,384.58 on Friday. The Nifty climbed 137.90 points or 0.74 per cent to end at its lifetime peak of 18,826.