Sensex Rises Over 200 Points, Nifty Trades Above 17,700; RBI Policy Outcome In Focus

The Indian equity benchmarks rose in opening deals on Friday ahead of Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) crucial policy decision. Asian stocks headed for a weekly loss as the prospect of aggressive global rate hikes finally began to rattle investors.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) also indicated a tad higher start for the domestic indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 241 points or 0.41 per cent to 59,276 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 75 points or 0.43 per cent up to 17,715.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 moved 0.68 up and small-cap shares jumped 0.63 per cent.

12 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Metal were outperforming the index by rising as much as 0.81 per cent and 1.09 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Coal India was the top gainer as the stock jumped 2.88 per cent to Rs 196.25. UPL, JSW Steel, BPCL and Hindalco were also among the gainers.

The overall market breadth stood strong as 1,933 shares were advancing while 476 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Dr Reddy's, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Titan, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and Hindustan Unilever were among the top gainers.

In contrast, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, TCS, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), HCL Tech and Nestle India were trading in the red.

HDFC twins had surged 10 per cent each after the mega-merger announcement on Monday. Both the stocks have declined after that.

Sensex had slipped 575 points or 0.97 per cent to close at 59,035 on Thursday, while Nifty had moved 168 points or 0.94 per cent lower to settle at 17,640.