Markets opens higher amid fresh foreign fund inflows, rally in US peers

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading in positive territory in early trade on Monday amid fresh foreign fund inflows and a rally in the US markets. A firm trend in Asian markets further contributed to the optimism in equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 104.84 points to 79,962.63 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 55.85 points to 24,419.15.

From the Sensex firms, State Bank of India, Trent, NTPC, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the gainers.

However, Titan, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were trading in positive territory.

The US markets ended higher on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,932.81 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

"Nifty extended its losing streak to a sixth straight week, with fear and caution dominating sentiment after India faced the brunt of Trump’s trade war amid a lacklustre Q1 earnings season. Today, the index may find respite on positive cues from Wall Street, supported by renewed hopes of a September Fed rate cut and FIIs turning net buyers (Rs 1,933 crore) on Friday," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.45 per cent to USD 66.29 a barrel.

On Friday, the Sensex tanked 765.47 points or 0.95 per cent to settle at 79,857.79. The Nifty dropped 232.85 points or 0.95 per cent to 24,363.30.