Equity indices gain in line with positive cues from global markets

Equity benchmarks gained during early hours on Monday in line with most global markets after data showed the US unemployment rate dropped to the lowest in almost 50 years.

But investors kept their bets low while awaiting second quarter (July to September) corporate earnings which will start pouring in later this week.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up by 220 points at 37,894 while the Nifty 50 edged higher up by 52 points to 11,226. At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed with auto, IT, media, pharma, PSU bank and realty in the negative zone.

Among stocks, the early gainers were Yes Bank which moved up by 3.9 per cent, Vedanta, Britannia, Nestle India and Bharti Airtel. But Zee Entertainment fell by 7.8 per cent. BPCL, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma and Hero MotoCorp too were in the red.

Meanwhile, Asian shares edged higher after data showed that the US unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent in September to reach the lowest since December 1969. That eased concerns of a slowdown in the world's largest economy as investors' main focus shifted to the high-level US-China trade negotiations expected in Washington on October 10 and 11.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.18 per cent while Japan's Nikkei stock index opened higher but reversed course and fell 0.3 per cent.