Indian equity markets in green; SBI up 3% after merger approval

Indian equity markets opened in green on Friday on the back of positive Asian cues. The Sensex opened up 64.37 points and the Nifty by 11.45 points.

At 0951 hours, the BSE Sensex was trading up 26.26 points at 28,149.70, chopped after opening at 28,193.28 in the early trade. While, NSE Nifty was at 8682.20, up 8.95 points, marginally dipped after opening at 8,686.45.

On BSE, among the top gainers were Jubilant Life Sciences (4.89%), Edelweiss (4.57%), Aban Offshore (4.53%), Piramal Enterprises (3.05%) and State Bank of India (3%). Among losers were Shipping Corporation of India (-5.32%), Muthoot Finance (-1.95%), Infratel (-1.36%), Coal India (-1.25%) and Blue Dart (-1.22%).

On Thursday, Board of State Bank of India (SBI) had given its approval for merger of associate banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself. 

The merger process of associate banks like State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd (BMBL) with SBI, under Section 35 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955, will now begin.

The rupee weakened 15 paise to 66.96 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange today following increased demand for the American currency from banks and importers, a PTI report said.

On the global front, Asian stocks edged up as Wall Street benefited from buoyant crude oil prices and expectations US borrowing costs will remain at stimulatory levels at least until year-end, Reuters report said.

Japan's Nikkei added 0.5% and South Korea's Kospi tacked on 0.2%. Australian shares added 0.1%.