NEW DELHI: Equity indices jumped to fresh lifetime highs in opening trade on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising over 400 points, led by gains in metal and auto stocks.
At 9.40 am, the 30-share BSE index was up 410 points or 0.73 per cent at fresh peak of 56,535; while the broader NSE Nifty was trading 123 points or 0.74 per cent higher at 16,829 for first time.
Top gainers in the sensex pack included Tata Steel, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, L&T and M&M with their shares rising as much as 2.27 per cent.
Whereas Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and TCS were the only stocks trading in red.
On the NSE platform, sub-indices Nifty Metal, Auto and Realty with gained as much as 2.03 per cent.
Wireless carrier Bharti Airtel rose as much as 1.8 per cent after saying that it plans to raise up to Rs 21,000 crore ($2.86 billion) through a sale of shares to existing shareholders, as it builds a war chest to prepare for the launch of 5G services.
Eight of the top-10 most valued companies together added Rs 1,90,032.06 crore in market valuation last week, with Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries Limited being the prominent gainers.
The sensex gained 795.40 points or 1.43 per cent. Equity gauges -- BSE sensex and NSE Nifty -- hit new closing highs on Friday.
Meanwhile, Asian shares started the week with gains after Powell struck a more dovish tone than some investors expected, indicating that the US central bank could begin scaling back its bond-buying program by year-end but did not give a firm timeline.
(With inputs from agencies)
