Sensex rises 160 points, Nifty above 12,900

New Delhi: Markets opened on a positive note on Monday tracking gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries amid largely positive cues from global markets and sustained foreign fund inflow.

The BSE Sensex rose 159.96 points or 0.36 percent to 44,042.21 in early trade. Similarly, the NSE Nifty jumped 48.75 points or 0.38 percent to 12,907.80.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserve, NTPC, RIL, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Powergrid, TCS, Nestle and Tech Mahindra, rising upto 3.92 percent. On the other hand, major losers were HDFC, ICICI Bnak, M&M, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ITC, SBI, Titan, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank, HUL, and Bajaj Auto, falling upto 2.87 percent.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 282.29 points or 0.65 per cent higher at 43,882.25, while the Nifty rose 87.35 points or 0.68 per cent to close at 12,859.05.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 3,860.78 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.56% on Monday. Seoul`s Kospi was 1.82% higher as an optimistic earnings outlook for South Korean chip giants drove gains. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday, but Nikkei futures added 0.19% to 25,795. Chinese blue-chips added 0.69%. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng was an outlier, edging down 0.2%, a Reuters report said.