The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday opened higher tracking mixed global trends.


At 9.40 am, the BSE Sensex was up 214 points to 57,741, on the other hand, the Nifty50 was trading at 17,011, up 66 points.


On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, L&T, Tata Steel, UltraCemco, Sun Pharma, Reliance were trading in the green. On the flip side, M&M, HUL, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Titan, Asian Paints emerged early losers.






Among individual stocks, shares of Bharat Electronics rose 1 per cent after it bagged Rs 3,000 crore work order for the Indian Army. Besides, shares of Karur Vysya Bank tumbled over 4 per cent after the Reserve Bank of India imposed Rs 30 lakh penalty.


In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices slipped up to 0.3 per cent.


Volatility gauge, India VIX, meanwhile, jumped over 2 per cent.


Sectorwise, Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma indices drove gains as it rose up to 0.5 per cent. On the flipside, Nifty Auto, and Nifty FMCG indices declined up to 0.4 per cent.


In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex went down 398 points, or 0.69 per cent, at 57,527 levels, while the Nifty50 ended at 16,945, down 132 points, or 0.77 per cent.


"Markets may see a firm opening in Monday's trade on the back of buoyancy in SGX Nifty after the US market closed higher on Friday. Benchmark Nifty is likely to regain the psychological level of 17,000, but intra-day gyration could be seen as traders would be wary of weakness in other Asian indices amid concerns over global financial health," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-market note.


Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.09 per cent to $74.92 per barrel.


Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,720.44 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.


Meanwhile, the rupee gained 9 paise to 82.31 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday amid a weak dollar and a positive trend in domestic equities.


At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.36 against the dollar, then climbed to 82.31, registering a rise of 9 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee closed at 82.40 against the US currency. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.11 per cent to 103.