Sensex rallies over 269 points to hit fresh record peak of 40,435, Nifty nears 12,000-mark; Vedanta, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, among top gainers

The BSE Sensex rallied over 269 points to hit its intraday peak of 40,434.83 in early trade on Monday led by gains in ICICI Bank, RIL, ITC, TCS and HDFC Bank amid positive global cues and unabated foreign fund inflow. At 10:15 am, the Sensex was up by 186 points at 40,351 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 62 points to 11,953.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 75.85 points to 11,966.45, inching closer to the 12,000-mark, a PTI report said. Among stocks, metal companies showed dramatic gains with Hindalco up by 5.3 percent, Tata Steel by 4.7 percent, Vedanta and JSW Steel by 4.4 percent each. Vodafone Idea rose by 7.2 percent after the company's management denied reports of exiting its India business, IANS report said. Bharti Infratel, Bajaj Finserv, Grasim, ICICI Bank and Bharat Petroleum Corporation were also in the green. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel, rising up to 3.20 percent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and HUL fell up to 4.80 percent.

In the previous session, the 30-share Sensex settled 35.98 points or 0.09 percent, higher at 40,165.03. The Nifty advanced 13.15 points or 0.11 percent, to close at 11,890.60.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased a Rs 533.37 crore in the capital market, on Friday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 136.50 crore, data available with the stock exchange showed. According to experts, better liquidity from FIIs and mutual funds will maintain a positive sentiment in the market given de-escalation in geopolitical risks and focus on upcoming reforms to revive growth.

Rupee up by 16 paise

The rupee appreciated by 16 paise to 70.65 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as easing crude prices and sustained foreign fund inflows strengthened investor sentiments.

Market participants said higher opening in domestic equity market, and hopes for a US-China trade deal also supported the local currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 70.55, registering a rise of 26 paise over its previous close of 70.81. It, however, pared some gains and was trading at 70.65 against the dollar in morning trade.

On Friday, the rupee had finished at 70.81 against the US currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 70.55, registering a rise of 26 paise over its previous close of 70.81. It, however, pared some gains and was trading at 70.65 against the dollar in morning trade.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.52 percent to $59.69 per barrel.

Asian shares hit 14-week high

Asian shares surged to more than 14-week highs on Monday as growing optimism over U.S.-China trade talks and upbeat U.S. job data boosted global investors’ appetite for riskier assets.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 1 percent, touching its highest level since 25 July, according to Reuters.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng led gains in the region, rising 1.4 percent, and Seoul's Kospi added 1.3 percent. In mainland China, blue chips were up 0.8 percent, and Australian shares were 0.3 percent higher.

Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

The United States and China both said on Friday that they had made progress in talks aimed at defusing their protracted 16-month-long trade war, and U.S. officials said a deal could be signed this month.

But in a morning note, analysts at National Australia Bank sounded a note of caution.

“As much as the U.S.-China trade updates continue to point to a Phase 1 deal looking like a certainty, the contentious issues on whether the U.S. will cancel the planned December tariffs and remove some of the current tariffs in line with China’s demands remains an unknown and if the issue is not resolved then a deal could easily collapse,” they said.

In comments on Friday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said tariffs set to kick in on Dec. 15, which would cover Chinese imports such as laptops, toys and electronics, would remain on the table, and the decision whether to cancel them would be made by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Any lingering uncertainty over the outlook for trade talks was not enough to keep the S&P 500 .SPX from gaining 0.97 percent and the Nasdaq rising 1.13 percent to fresh record closing highs on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.11 percent.

On Monday, US S&P 500 e-mini stock futures ESc1 were up 0.2 percent at 3,067.8.

The US job growth slowed less than expected in October and hiring in the prior two months was stronger than previously estimated, data from the Labor Department showed on Friday.

Those numbers followed a private survey of manufacturers in China that showed better-than-expected factory activity in October.

Rob Carnell, Asia-Pacific chief economist at ING in Singapore, said some market optimism was “probably justified” in the wake of the positive data.

“Everybody had been looking for a much worse number and it didn’t materialise, so some bounce from that was entirely plausible and reasonable.”

But he added that continued uncertainty over trade talks and less room for monetary easing by global central banks made for a murky outlook.

“It’s difficult to see why you wouldn’t be at least thinking, there is a ‘good profit-taking opportunity right now’ and positioning for a slightly worse outcome,” he said.

While cash treasuries were not trading due to the Japanese market holiday, U.S. 10-year Treasury futures TYc1 were down 0.06 percent amid the broadly bullish market mood.

The implied yield on the 10-year Treasury futures contract expiring in December TYZ9 was 1.63 percent.

Oil prices, which had surged on hopes for a US-China trade deal, pulled back Monday. Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was off 0.6 percent at $61.35 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was 0.4 percent lower at $55.96.

In the currency market, the dollar was up 0.03 percent against the yen to 108.20, and the euro was up 0.04 percent to buy $1.1170.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.06 percent at 97.183.

Those small moves contrasted with a 1.3 percent jump in the South African rand against the dollar. The currency rallied on relief that Moody's maintained South Africa's investment-grade rating on Friday, though the agency cut its outlook on the rating to "negative".

Gold was slightly lower as investors moved into riskier assets. Spot gold was trading at $1,512.60 per ounce, down 0.06 percent.

--With inputs from agencies