Sensex, Nifty50 open higher; ONGC, Hero MotoCorp among top blue-chip gainers

Indian equity benchmarks started Monday's session on a positive note as Dalal Street entered a holiday-truncated week with Mahavir Jayanti holiday the next day and Good Friday on April 7. 

The BSE Sensex was up 114.3 points or 0.19 per cent to 59,105.8 and NSE Nifty50 rose by 38.2 points or 0.22 per cent to 17,397.9 minutes after the market opened.

As many as 32 stocks were advancing and 18 were declining in the Nifty50 basket in the early deals. 

ONGC, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp were among the top gainers, rising around 4-2 per cent each.

On the contrary, BPCL, Adani Enterprises and Hindustan Unilever were the top blue-chip laggards, falling up to 3-1 per cent.

The Nifty Bank — whose 12 constituents include the country's largest lenders SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank edged higher to open at 40,695.8. The 12-share banking index, Nifty Bank was at 40,650.8 level, up 42.2 points or 0.1 per cent in the early session.  

The broader markets too followed benchmarks suit to trade in the green minutes after the start of today’s session as Nifty Mid and Smallcap each up around 0.5 per cent.

EDITOR'S TAKE | Anil Singhvi Market Strategy for April 3

Anil Singhvi Market Strategy: Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi expects support for the Nifty50 benchmark at 17,250-17,300 levels, and a strong buy zone at 17,150-17,210 levels on Monday, April 3. Click here to read more

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