By IANS
Mumbai : Indian markets opened on a firm note Monday with all the scrips starting the day in the green. A key index was up nearly 450 points in early trade as global cues from peers were strong and most Asian markets were trading higher.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened 253.45 higher at 18,496.03 points, and soon rose to 18,801.56 points, to register a gain of 558.98 over the previous day’s close at 18,242.58.
The broader 50-share CNX S&P Nifty index on the National Stock Exchange was up 181.25 points or 3.41 percent at 5498.50 at start of trading.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 2.76 percent at 7,975.83 points, while the BSE Small-Cap was up 2.67 percent at 10,341.38 points.
The market breadth was extremely strong. All 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were trading in the green.
Among the major gainers were Reliance Communication, ABB, Siemens, BPCL, Infosys, Sterlite, ONGC, Idea Cellular, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, Tata Motors, Reliance Energy and ITC.
India’s largest engineering and construction firm by revenue, Larsen and Toubro, rose 2.24 percent to Rs.3,805 in morning trade.
India’s second largest listed telecom firm Reliance Communications vaulted 5.63 percent to Rs.646 on reports that its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Telecom Infrastructure is planning to raise nearly Rs.60 billion through an initial public offer.
Among the other Sensex gainers, ONGC soared 6 percent to Rs.1107.50, Wipro gained 4.28 percent to Rs.456, DLF moved up 4.30 percent to Rs.850.70, Bharat Heavy Electricals flared up 3.91 percent to Rs.2,146.10 and State Bank of India rose 3.96 percent to Rs.2,270.
Elsewhere in Asia, key indices in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up between 2.03 percent and 6.23 percent.