Markets open higher led by rally in select heavyweight stocks

Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Friday led by a rally in heavyweight stocks like Reliance Industries, HDFC and ITC.

However, investors remained cautious ahead of the exit polls on May 19.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up 187 points at 37,581 while the Nifty 50 gained 46 points at 11,304. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed.

Among the early gainers was Bajaj Finance which was up nearly 4 points to Rs 3,231.70. Zee Entertainment, Hero MotorCorp, Yes Bank and Bajaj Auto gained between 1.8 and 2.6 per cent.

But Hindalco slumped 3.5 per cent after reporting poor corporate results while Tata Motors was down 2.8 per cent. The other losers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Tata Steel and Ultra Cement.

Meanwhile, Asian equities were mixed. While Japan's Nikkei bounced 1.5 per cent, Shanghai stocks slipped amid the fallout from US President Donald Trump's move to block China's Huawei Technologies from buying vital American technology.

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