Equites in the green on global cues, Tata Motors up 4.5 pc

Equity benchmark indices ruled higher during early hours on Monday following positive sentiment after US President Donald Trump outlined first phase of a deal to end the trade war with China.

He suspended a threatened tariff hike last week, though officials on both sides said much more work needs to be done.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up by 93 points at 38,221 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 30 points to 11,335. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green except for Nifty IT which slipped by 0.8 per cent. Nifty metal was up by 1.6 per cent and realty by 1.3 per cent.

Among stocks, Tata Motors gained by 4.5 per cent at Rs 126.75 per share while Bajaj Auto was up by 1.7 per cent. Metals stocks were on upbeat mood with Vedanta jumping by 3.2 per cent, Tata Steel by 2.9 per cent and JSW Steel by 2.3 per cent.

The other prominent gainers were Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and oil marketing majors like IndianOil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

However, tech major Infosys lost by 2.7 per cent. UPL, Cipla, Zee Entertainment, Power Grid Corporation and Bharti Infratel too were in the red.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were traded higher as signs of progress in the US-China trade emerged, though investors remained wary of damage already done to the global economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.1% in light trade, South Korea' Kopsi gained by 1.3 per cent and Shanghai blue chips added 1.6 per cent. Tokyo was on holiday.

Meanwhile, the European Union agreed on Friday to hold another round of intense negotiations with Britain in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock and secure a deal before the Oct. 31 deadline.