Sensex gains 100 points, Nifty near 12,100; auto, telecom stocks in focus

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices traded slightly higher during early hours on Monday following Asian stocks which were up on rise in manufacturing activity in China. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex edged higher by 97 points to 40,891 while the Nifty 50 inched up by 19 points at 12,075.

But sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty auto down by 0.14 per cent as financial services slipped by 0.21 per cent. Among stocks, Bharti Airtel jumped by 7.3 per cent to Rs 474.90 per share while index heavyweight gained by 3.5 per cent to Rs 1,605.60 apiece.

Grasim showed a handsome gain of 4.2 per cent while Zee Entertainment added by 2.1 per cent and Bharti Infratel by 1.9 per cent. However, those which lost were Tech Mahindra, ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Eicher Motors and Dr Reddy`s. Meanwhile, Asian shares rose after upbeat China manufacturing surveys and as investors held to the broad view that a further escalation in US-China trade war can be avoided.

MSCI`s index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan gained by 0.46 per cent to reclaim some of its loss on Friday while Japan`s Nikkei jumped by 1.11 per cent. Mainland Chinese shares also went higher, with the blue-chip CSI 300 index rising by 0.59 per cent from a three-month low hit on Friday.