Following gains in overseas markets, the key benchmark indices rose in the early deals today. The benchmark Sensex was up 100 points at 14,885 levels and the Nifty was up 28 points at 4,418 levels.
“The budget is a non-event for the markets. The markets are looking beyond the budget now. The implementation of the policies announced by the government is important for the markets at this stage,” said Sandeep Bhardawaj, CEO & head of equity strategy, Tower Capital & Securities.
Buying interest was seen in metals, capital goods and oil & gas stocks. The metal index on the BSE gained 1.6 per cent and the capital goods index rose 1 per cent. The BSE oil & gas index advanced 0.8 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Steel led gainers. The stock rose 2.8 per cent in early trade today. Sun Pharma, Sterlite and NTPC were the other main gainers in the pack, up more than 1.4 per cent each.
However, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and TCS were among the losers in the pack.
In the US markets, a surge in oil prices sent investors rushing to put money into the stock market in the final days of the second quarter.
Energy, industrial and materials stocks pulled the market higher in light trading on Monday as investors raced to keep up with the gains in oil.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 90.99, or 1.1 percent, to 8,529.38. The S&P 500 index rose 8.33, or 0.9 percent, to 927.23, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.84, or 0.3 percent, to 1,844.06.
Asian markets were trading mostly higher today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Japan’s Nikkei were up more than 0.7 per cent each.
(With AP inputs)