Sensex jumps over 280 points, Nifty above 11,200

The announcement of General Election dates by the Election Commission also added to positivity in the markets.

New Delhi: It was a strong start to markets for the second day on Tuesday amidst positive global cues.

The BSE Sensex jumped 287.32 points or 0.78 percent to 37,341.42 in early trade while the NSE Nifty edged higher by 85.10 points or 0.76 percent to 11,253.15.

The announcement of General Election dates by the Election Commission also added to positive sentiments for the investors. Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 and continue for over a month till May 19 across seven phases, followed by counting of votes on May 23, the Election Commission announced Sunday.

The major gainers included NTPC (2.63 %), Powergrid (1.95 %), Reliance (1.67 %), Vedanta (1.58 %), Tata Motors (1.37 %), Lt (1.24 %), ICICI Bank (1.17 %), Sun pharma (1.09 %), ONGC (0.98 %), Yes Bank (0.93 %), HCL (0.92 %) and Axis Bank (0.86 %)

Bucking the trend, TCS (0.11 %), Hero Motocorp (0.17 %) and Airtel (0.24 %) were trading in red.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 3,810.60 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,955.55 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Asian shares rose after the European Commission agreed to changes in a Brexit deal ahead of a vote in the British parliament on a divorce agreement, a Reuters report said.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3 percent. Australian shares were up 0.4 percent, while Japan`s Nikkei stock index jumped 1.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.79 percent and S&P 500 gained 1.47 percent to 2,783.3.

With Agency Inputs