Sensex gains 250 points to open above 61,300, Nifty trades at around 18,100

Stock markets opening figures: Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a firm note on Monday amid continuous foreign fund inflows and rally in the US equities.

Buying in index majors Reliance Industries and HDFC twins also supported the rally in the markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 391.8 points to 61,446.09 in early trade. The NSE Nifty climbed 107.3 points to 18,176.30.

Among the Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers.

Infosys emerged as the only laggard.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with gains, while Tokyo quoted lower.

The US markets had ended with significant gains on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Friday also as they bought equities worth ₹777.68 crore, according to exchange data.

“Cues from the mother market US indicate that the fears from the regional banking crisis are receding. The April US jobs data, which came at a much better-than-expected 2,53,000 jobs reflect a strong economy which may even avoid a recession.

“FIIs have been continuous buyers in India during the last seven trading sessions, cumulatively buying equity worth ₹11,700 crore,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.08 per cent to USD 75.36 per barrel.

The BSE benchmark had tanked 694.96 points or 1.13 per cent to settle at 61,054.29 on Friday. The Nifty fell 186.80 points or 1.02 per cent to end at 18,069.