Positive global cues on the back of easing geo-political tensions, coupled with healthy buying in capital goods, banking and automobile stocks, lifted key Indian equity indices -- the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 -- during the mid-afternoon trade session on Monday.
Index heavyweights like Larsen and Toubro, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Coal India, among others, aided the indices in their bull run, said market observers.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) reclaimed the 10,000-mark, which was breached on July 25 for the first time.
At 1.15 p.m., the Nifty50 traded at 10,010.35 points -- up 75.55 points or 0.76 per cent.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,798.31 points, traded at 31,893.17 points -- up 205.65 points, or 0.65 per cent, from its previous close at 31,687.52 points.
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The Sensex has so far touched a high of 31,926.74 points and a low of 31,797.89 points during intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bullish -- with 1,536 advances and 926 declines.
"The benchmark indices opened higher on Monday tracking positive signals from Asian markets after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un decided to hold a party over the weekend rather than launch another missile. The Indian rupee opened marginally lower against the US dollar," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.
"Shares of gas distribution companies gained after the government renegotiated the pricing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported from Australia's Gorgon project to save more than Rs 10,000 crore, which has shown positive impact on all the listed oil and gas stocks," he added.
On Friday, the benchmark indices closed on a flat note -- marginally in the green -- buoyed by a strong rupee and good buying activities in capital goods stocks.
The Nifty50 was up 4.90 points, or 0.05 per cent, to close at 9,934.80 points, while the Sensex closed at 31,687.52 points -- up 24.78 points, or 0.08 per cent.
--IANS
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