Sensex rises over 360 pts to scale 61k-level in early trade; Nifty above 18,220

Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 360 points to breach the 61,000-mark in early trade on Monday, led by strong gains in banking, auto and financial stocks amid a firm trend in global markets.

An appreciating rupee and foreign fund inflows added to the momentum, traders said.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 362.24 points or 0.59 per cent higher at 61,312.60 in initial deals. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 104.55 points or 104.55 per cent to 18,221.70.

State Bank of India was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 4.38 per cent, followed by Nestle India, NTPC, M&M, Maruti, L&T and Tech Mahindra.

State Bank of India on Saturday reported the highest-ever quarterly profit at Rs 13,265 crore, up 74 per cent year-on-year, for the September quarter of FY23, buoyed by robust loan sales, higher interest income and lower provisions.

On the other hand, Titan, DrReddy's and Bajaj Finserv were the losers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index gained momentum as the session progressed to close 113.95 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 60,950.36. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 64.45 points or 0.36 per cent to 18,117.15.

The rupee gained 13 paise to 82.20 against the US dollar in early deals on Monday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the Indian capital market on Friday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,436.25 crore, as per exchange data.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.19 per cent lower at USD 97.45 per barrel.

In Asian markets, bourses in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains.

Equities on Wall Street ended significantly higher in the previous session on Friday.

After withdrawing funds in the last two months, foreign investors came back strongly in the first week of November and infused Rs 15,280 crore in Indian equities in hopes that US Federal Reserve would go soft on rate hikes.

Going forward, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) flows are expected to remain volatile in the near-term given the headwinds in terms of monetary tightening, and geo-political concerns among others, Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities, said.

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran has said India is encountering global shocks with a position of strength backed by far better household, corporate and financial sector balance sheets and its medium-term growth outlook is good.

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