By Tanvi Mehta
(Reuters) - Indian shares began the last month of 2018 higher on Monday, tracking upbeat mood in broader Asian markets as truce talks between U.S. and Chinese leaders at the G20 summit boosted sentiment in commodity and IT stocks.
China and the United States agreed to halt additional tariffs in a deal that keeps their trade war from escalating as the two sides try again to bridge their differences with fresh talks aimed at reaching a deal within 90 days. Oil prices surged nearly five percent.
"Truce talks are a big relief for China. There isn't much for India, it's more of a sentiment change... Today is all about commodities, they're doing well because of global trade," said Naveen Kulkarni, head of research, Reliance Securities.
Investors are keenly awaiting the decision of the central bank's monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. The latest poll of 70 economists, taken between Nov. 22-28, predicted the Reserve Bank of India would hold its repo rate at 6.50 percent at its meeting.
The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.43 percent at 10,923.35 as of 0504 GMT, after hitting a high of 10,941.20 earlier, a level last seen on Oct. 3.
The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.51 percent higher at 36,380.19.
The metal index surged over three percent, its biggest daily percentage gain in a month. Shares of Vedanta Ltd and Hindalco Industries Ltd were up 3.5 percent each.
A weaker rupee helped IT stocks post modest gains.
However, gains were capped by the losses in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's stock, which fell over 10 percent in its biggest intraday percentage fall since May 2017. Markets regulator SEBI is likely to reopen an insider trading case against the firm, according to a report by PTI carried in the Economic Times.
Some automakers also dropped after posting disappointing monthly sales for November. Shares of Ashok Leyland Ltd fell as much as 5.2 percent after posting 9.2 percent drop in November sales.
Mid-cap stocks surged, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index up 0.96 percent.
(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; editing by Rashmi Aich)
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