Key Indian indices trade higher on strong Asian cues

The key Indian equity indices traded on a positive note on Monday afternoon taking cues from the benchmark Asian indices.

Both the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty traded higher than their closing levels last week.

"Indian shares traded up on Monday tracking gains in Asian shares as investors took a sanguine view on US-China trade tensions amid weaker than expected jobs data that build expectations Fed may not hike rates aggressively in 2018," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.

Around 12.56 p.m., the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded higher by 47.15 points or 0.46 per cent at 10,378.75 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensex of the BSE, which opened at 33,653.61 points, traded at 33,770.26 points (at 12.56 p.m.) -- up 143.29 points or 0.43 per cent from its previous session's close.

The Sensex has so far touched a high of 33,826.91 points and a low of 33,578.91 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,619 advances and 901 declines.

IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Mahindra and Mahindra, and ITC were the top gainers on the BSE. Top losers on the BSE were Infosys, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank.

On the NSE, BPCL, Hindustan Petroleum and Hidalco led the gainers, while ZEE Entertainment Enterprises, Vedanta, Tata Motors were among the top losers so far.

--IANS

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