Equities indices in the green amid mixed global cues, BHEL surges by 23 pc

Equities treaded cautiously during early hours on Friday amid mixed global cues despite Britain and the European Union striking a long-awaited Brexit deal.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up by 86 points at 39,138 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 30 points to 11,616. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive zone with Nifty PSU bank showing an uptick of 1.4 per cent.

Among stocks, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) surged 22.78 per cent in early trade after reports of government likely to cut its stake in the company. An inter-ministerial group is expected to meet soon to discuss the stake sale.

Yes Bank was up by 6.8 per cent while NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro and Bajaj Finance gained between 1.3 and 1.7 per cent.

Among the losers were Zee Entertainment, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys and Bajaj Auto.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks tumbled after China posted its weakest growth in nearly three decades.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down by 0.17 per cent, echoing Wall Street's small gains. But Japan's Nikkei added gains of 0.18 per cent.

While a new draft Brexit deal was agreed upon between Britain and the EU, China's economic growth slowed more than expected to 6 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019, marking the weakest pace in nearly three decades.

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