Sensex gains 78 points in early trade today

The benchmark Sensex gained over 78 points and the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 9,300-mark in early trade today on widespread gains tracking a firm trend in Asia.

The 30-share index was trading higher by 78.22 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 29,937.02 with all the sectoral indices led by consumer durables, auto, capital goods and healthcare, trading in the positive terrain by gaining up to 0.66 per cent.

The gauge had lost 267.41 points in the previous session on Friday on global weakness due to a renewed slide in crude oil prices.Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty regained the 9,300-mark by rising 24.05 points, or 0.26 per cent, to trade at at 9,309.35.

Traders said buying activity picked up as positive cues started



emerging from other Asian bourses following a Wall Street rally at the close of last week. Investors also cheered centrist Emmanuel Macron's victory over anti-EU Marine Le Pen in France's presidential election, which influenced sentiment.

Major gainers that supported the key indices included ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, TCS, NTPC, Lupin, Asian Paints, Infosys, Coal India and Maruti Suzuki. The stocks rose by up to 1.49 per cent.

Globally, Japan's Nikkei was up 1.80 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.36 per cent in early trade today.China's Shanghai Composite index, however, shed 0.81 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.26 per cent higher in Friday's trade.