Sensex rises 120 pts in early trade; Nifty near 18,300

Mumbai, January 17 dmanewsdesk: Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 120 points in opening trade on Monday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights ICICI Bank, HDFC twins and Infosys amid mixed cues from the Asian markets.

Starting on a positive note, the BSE gauge was trading 122.58 points or 0.20 per cent higher at 61,345.61 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty advanced 37.65 points or 0.21 per cent to 18,293.40.

Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 1.62 per cent, followed by SBI, M&M, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, Infosys and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Titan and Wipro were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the 30-share BSE index ended 12.27 points or 0.02 per cent lower at 61,223.03. Similarly, the NSE Nifty slipped 2.05 points or 0.01 per cent to 18,255.75.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Tokyo were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong and Seoul were in the red.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a mixed note on Friday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.08 per cent to USD 86.13 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,598.20 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.

Source: PTI