Markets climb in early trade on positive global trends, Sensex at 81,841 pts

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty climbed in early trade on Monday helped by buying in banking and financial stocks and amid a positive trend in global equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 460.38 points or 0.57 per cent to 81,841.74 in early trade. The NSE Nifty climbed 138.80 points or 0.56 per cent to 25,103.05.

Among the 30 Sensex companies, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, IndusInd Bank, NTPC and Infosys were the gainers.

In contrast, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asian Paints, Nestle India and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,162.66 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,730.87 crore, according to exchange data.

"This month, through 11th October, FPIs have sold equity for Rs 5,8710 crore. This massive selling didn't have a serious impact on the market since the entire FPI selling has been absorbed by DIIs who are receiving sustained fund inflows.

"This trend of FII selling and DII buying is likely to sustain in the near-term since Chinese stocks continue to be cheap compared to the elevated valuations in India," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul were trading in the green territory while Hong Kong was in the negative.

"IT and banking stocks are likely to remain resilient on the back of expected good Q2 numbers. However, there is only limited scope for the market to move up sharply from here," Vijayakumar said.

The Wall Street ended with gains on Friday.

The uncertainty surrounding the US presidential elections next month also is likely to weigh on markets along with the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, he added.

Global oil benchmark Brent Crude fell 1.09 per cent to USD 78.18 a barrel.

On Friday, the BSE Sensex fell 230.05 points to close at 81,381.36, and the NSE Nifty slipped 34.20 points to settle at 24,964.25.