Sensex Rises Over 200 Points, Nifty Trades Above 16,600; Infosys, HDFC Bank Among Top Gainers

New Delhi: The Indian equity indices traded higher on Monday taking cues from the global markets. Asian share markets firmed and oil slid on hopes for progress in Russian-Ukraine peace talks even as fighting continued to rage.

Back home, as of 9:41 am, the benchmark BSE Sensex jumped 204 points or 0.37 per cent to 55,754; while the broader NSE Nifty rose 33 points or 0.20 per cent to 16,664.

Mid-and small-cap shares were trading in the negative zone as Nifty Midcap 100 index edged 0.33 per cent lower and small-cap shares slipped 0.20 per cent.

Six out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Nifty IT was outperforming the index by rising as much as 1.18 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, Infosys was the top Nifty gainer as the stock surged 2.33 per cent to Rs 1,864.45. HDFC Bank, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and SBI were also among the gainers.

HDFC Bank gained nearly 3 per cent after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted restrictions placed on the company's digital operations for more than a year.

On BSE, the overall market breadth was positive as 1,513 shares were advancing while 1,364 were declining.

On the 30-share BSE index, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Wipro, TechM, TCS, SBI, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers. In contrast, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, M&M, Maruti and Dr Reddy's were trading in the red.

Also, shares of Paytm parent -- One97 Communications -- tanked as much as 12.13 per cent after Reserve Bank of India barred Vijay Shekhar Sharma-promoted Paytm Payments Bank to stop opening new accounts.

Sensex had climbed 86 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 55,550 on Friday, while Nifty had moved 36 points or 0.21 per cent higher to close at 16,630.