Sensex, Nifty rise on global cues; automakers gain

By Jessica Kuruthukulangara

(Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Monday, the first trading day of the new financial year, tracking gains in global equity markets, while auto stocks such as Tata Motors Ltd led gains after posting strong sales numbers for March.

Asian stocks began the new quarter with mild gains after Wall Street surged on Thursday, ending a tumultuous first quarter on a high note. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.13 percent.

"We believe the market has fallen quite a bit from its all-time high, as there was a correction which was required. We expect things to start changing as it is time the market finds support," said Sudhakar Pattabiraman, head of research operations at William O'Neil's MarketSmith.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.41 percent at 10,155.60 as of 0536 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.38 percent higher at 33,093.82.

The Nifty auto index gained as much as 1.7 percent. Tata Motors rose 3.5 percent, after posting a 35 percent jump in March domestic vehicle sales.

India's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd climbed 2.6 percent after reporting a 14.9 percent rise in March vehicle sales.

Dilip Buildcon Ltd surged as much as 12 percent to a record high after research firm BofA Merrill Lynch initiated coverage on the stock with "buy" rating, citing a strong order pipeline.

Meanwhile, ICICI Bank Ltd plunged 7 percent to a five-month low after media reported its lending practices were the subject of a police investigation and after the central bank fined the lender for not sticking to certain rules around the sale of government securities.

IDBI Bank Ltd slipped as much as 4.6 percent after the Economic Times reported that the Reserve Bank of India had written to the finance ministry expressing concern over "the poor financial position" of IDBI Bank.

(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)