Sensex rises over 200 pts; Nifty tests 11,950

Market benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Monday tracking gains in index-heavyweights Infosys, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel amid positive cues from global equities.

The 30-share index was trading 213.78 points, or 0.53 per cent, higher at 40,573.19. Similarly, the broader Nifty rose 57.65 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 11,972.05.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Tata Steel which rose up to 2.48 per cent, Bharti Airtel 2.30 per cent, Infosys 1.33 per cent, Sun Pharma 1.55 per cent, Vedanta 1.27 per cent and RIL 0.82 per cent.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto fell up to 0.76 per cent, ICICI Bank 0.75 per cent, HCL Tech 0.70 per cent, Asian Paints 0.59 per cent and ONGC slipped 0.60 per cent.

On Friday, the Sensex ended 215.76 points, or 0.53 per cent, lower at 40,359.41. The Nifty settled 54 points, or 0.45 per cent, down at 11,914.40.

Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 305.72 crore in the capital market in the previous session, while domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 177.37 crore, data available with stock exchange showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading on a positive note.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated marginally against the US dollar to trade at 71.72 in early session.

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.21 per cent to USD 63.52 per barrel.