Sensex Rises Over 180 Points, Nifty Near 11,950

Domestic stock markets started Monday's session on a positive note amid gains in Asian peers. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 185.71 points to touch 40,542.40 in the first few minutes of trade, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark climbed to as high as 11,946.15, up 50.7 points from the previous close. Gains across sectors - led by banking, metal, pharma and energy shares - supported the upmove in the markets. At 9:20 am, the Sensex traded 136.65 points - or 0.34 per cent - higher at 40,493.34, while the Nifty was up 35.80 points (0.30 per cent) at 11,931.25.

Top percentage gainers on the 50-scrip index at the time were Bharat Petroleum, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Zee Entertainment and Tata Motors, trading between 1.04 per cent and 3.07 per cent higher.

On the other hand, GAIL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Infratel, Asian Paints and Nestle - trading between 0.46 per cent and 1.01 per cent lower - were the top laggards.

Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel contributed the most to the gain in Sensex.

Equities in other Asian markets blipped higher after Beijing surprised markets by trimming a key interest rate for the first time since 2015, stirring speculation that more stimulus was on the way for the world's second-largest economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan also moved 0.3 per cent higher. Japan's Nikkei added 0.38 per cent, and was just short of its recent 13-month top.

China's central bank cut rates on seven-day reverse repurchase agreements by five basis points to 2.50 per cent, a move that nudged the yuan higher while lowering Chinese bond yields.

The S&P BSE Sensex index had ended 70.21 points - or 0.17 per cent - higher at 40,356.69 and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark settled at 11,895.45, up 23.35 points - or 0.20 per cent - from the previous close.