Auto stocks gain, Nifty above 11,950

Stock markets opened with a positive note on Monday as investors awaited government measures to arrest lower GDP growth data for FY 19 announced last week.

Equities have been on a high since Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a massive mandate in the recent general elections, with traders hoping for the economy to be on a growth path with a stable government.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up 181 points at 39,895 while the Nifty 50 gained 42 points to 11,965. Except metal, pharma and PSU bank, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive zone.

Among the early gainers was Hero MotorCorp which gained 3.8 per cent at Rs 2,782 per share. Bajaj Auto was up nearly 2 per cent at Rs 2,984 apiece.

However, ONGC dipped over 2 per cent. The others which lost marginally were Tech Mahindra, Hindalco, Tata Motors and JSW Steel.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets slipped following intensifying US-China trade tensions and Washington's new tariff threats against Mexico. Beijing implemented tariff hikes on Saturday and announced it will take action against 'unreliable' foreign companies.

Investors believe these developments could tip the global economy into a recession. Hong Kong opened flat on Monday while China and Korea eked out gains.