Sensex jumps 234 points, Nifty above 11,440 in early trade

New Delhi: Markets opened in the positive zone on Monday led by gains in financial stocks amid firm cues from global markets.

The BSE Sensex rose 233.83 points or 0.61 percent to 38,668.55 in early trade while the NSE Nifty rose 72.85 points or 0.64 percent to 11,444.45.

Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Asian Paint, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Tata Steel, Maruti, and Bajaj Auto, rising upto 2.67 percent. On the other hand, major losers were Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Titan, Powergrid, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, M&M, ONGC, Infosys, TCS and HUL, falling upto 1.31 percent.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 410.16 crore on a net basis on Friday.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan jumped 0.65%, moving toward a six-month high touched last week. Japan`s Nikkei reversed early losses to be last up 0.4%. Chinese shares rose too with the blue-chip CSI 300 index adding 0.8%.South Korea`s KOSPI, which has been on a slippery slope since hitting a more than two-year peak earlier this month, climbed 0.9%, a Reuters report said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.04 per cent lower at USD 44.91 per barrel.

In the previous session, the Sensex closed 214.33 points or 0.56 per cent higher at 38,434.72; while the Nifty rose 59.40 points or 0.53 per cent to close at 11,371.60.