Equity indices trade higher, pharma and auto stocks gain

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Equity benchmark indices advanced by 0.8 per cent during early hours on Monday with pharma, auto and financial stocks in the lead.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 300 points or 0.79 per cent at 38,341 while the Nifty 50 gained by 92 points or 0.82 per cent at 11,306.

Except for Nifty metal which slipped marginally, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty pharma gaining by 3.3 per cent, financial service by 1.3 per cent and auto by 0.8 per cent.

Among stocks, Cipla was up by 5.3 per cent to Rs 767.50 per share while Sun Pharma ticked up by 1.6 per cent to Rs 534.20.

Mahindra & Mahindra gained by 4.3 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.8 per cent, Larsen & Toubro by 3.6 per cent, State Bank of India by 2.2 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank by 2 per cent.

However, Maruti Suzuki slipped by 1.1 per cent, Hindalco by 0.8 per cent and Nestle India by 0.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were in tight ranges as worries over flaring tensions between the United States and China weighed on market sentiment.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan see-sawed between red and green as trading was expected to be light with Japanese and Singaporean markets closed for public holidays.

Chinese shares started lower with the blue-chip CSI300 down a shade and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index falling 0.2 per cent.

While deteriorating US-China relations hung heavy on sentiment, data showing a slowing in China’s factory deflation boosted hopes of economic recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. (ANI)