Sensex Gains Over 250 Points, Nifty Above 10,650

The domestic stock markets traded with solid gains in early trade on Friday amid fresh fund flows and rising rupee. At 10:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex traded at 35,512.26, up 251.72 points or 0.71 per cent and the Nifty50 benchmark of National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 10,686.15, with a gain of 69.45 points or 0.65 per cent. Thirty seven out of 50 Nifty stocks traded in the green. Gaining between 1.96 per cent and 4.83 per cent, the top five Nifty gainers were Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Eicher Motors, Cipla, and HCL Tech.

In the sectoral landscape, pharma stocks led the gains as the Nifty Pharma gained 1.24 per cent. Metal and realty stocks, however, bucked the positive trend.

In the currency market, the rupee gained 10 paise to 71.87 against the US dollar.

The British pound lay battered and bruised in Asia after a bout of political turmoil fanned fears the country could crash out of the European Union without a divorce deal, reported news agency Reuters.

Asian share markets fared better as hopes for a thaw in Sino-US trade relations gave Wall Street a fillip, though there were duelling reports on the prospects for an actual agreement.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was ahead 0.26 per cent in early trade, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.2 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) accumulated shares worth a net of Rs 2,043.06 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 165.31 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed. In the previous session, the Sensex ended 118.55 points or 0.34 per cent higher at 35,260.54, while the Nifty settled at 10,616.70, up 40.40 points or 0.38 per cent. (With agencies inputs)