CNBC-TV18 Opening Bell: Sensex, Nifty gain as trade war fears ebb; ONGC, NTPC surge 8%

Indian shares opened higher on Thursday, in line with Asia, as trade war concerns ebbed after the US Trade Representative said the US and Chinese officials will hold ministerial-level trade talks in Washington in the coming weeks.

Benchmark equity indices started with gains largely led by metal and energy shares. The S&P BSE Sensex surged over 107 points, or 0.29 percent, to trade at 36,832 while the NSE Nifty50 gained 47.50 points, or 0.44 percent, at 10,892.20.

Indices ended higher on Wednesday, with the Sensex settling 162 points up, or 0.44 percent, at 36,724.74. The broader 50-share NSE index ended with gains at 11,844, up 47 points, or 0.43 percent.

Broader markets also advanced with the Nifty MidCap index rising half a percent while the Nifty Bank gained 0.38 percent. Bank, IT, finance, pharma, auto and metal counters rose in early trade, while FMCG, realty and telecom indices led losses.

ONGC, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Coal India and NTPC rose between 3 and 5 percent, leading Nifty gainers.

HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies and Hindustan Unilever slipped between 0.5 and 1.5 percent.

Reliance Industries advanced 0.8 percent in early trade ahead of the launch Reliance Jio Infocomm's JioFiber services today.

Yes Bank traded with mild gains after the lender settled its case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for selective disclosure to the stock exchanges of divergence data.

In the currency market, the rupee opened higher against the US dollar on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 2,016.20 crore on Tuesday, provisional exchange data showed.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds were up 0.55 percent at 6.59 percent from the previous close of 6.55 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

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