Domestic stock markets started Thursday's session on a positive note, ahead of the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India's sixth bi-monthly policy review of the current fiscal year.
TheS-P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 199.53 points to 41,342.19 in early trade, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark climbed to as high as 12,151.25, up 62.1 points from the previous close.
Gains across most sectors - led by automobile, metal and energy stocks - pushed the markets higher.
Analysts keenly awaited the release of policy statement by the RBI, which is widely expected to keep key interest rates on hold later in the day.At 9:22 am, the Sensex traded 120.02 points - or 0.29 per cent - higher at 41,262.68 while the Nifty was up 44.50 points - or 0.37 per cent - at 12,133.65.Market breadth favoured gains with an advance-decline ratio of 2:1 at the time.
On the BSE, 743 stocks moved higher while 276 traded lower.
On the NSE, 1,017 stocks advanced while 484 declined.Forty one stocks on the 50-scrip benchmark index traded higher at the time.Top percentage gainers on the Nifty were Zee Entertainment, Yes Bank, Indian Oil, Vedanta and Cipla, trading between 1.34 per cent and 6.20 per cent higher.On the other hand, Tata Motors, Bharti Infratel, UPL, Hindalco and Nestle - down between 0.10 per cent and 1.36 per cent - were the top Nifty laggards.ITC, Reliance Industries, Larsen - Toubro and HDFC Bank were the top contributors to the gain in Sensex, together accounting for a rise of nearly 50 points in the index.The six-member Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is widely expected to maintain the status quo on key lending rates in its sixth bi-monthly statement of 2019-20, amid economic slowdown and consumer inflation staying well above the central bank's comfort zone.Equities in other Asian markets continued to rise with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific stocks last seen trading1.17 per cent higher and Japan's Nikkei 225 index up 2.07 per cent.Investors cheered expectations of more central bank stimulus and reports that scientists were developing a vaccine for the deadly coronavirusThe death toll from a new coronavirus in mainland China jumped by 73 to 563 on Thursday, its third consecutive record daily rise, as experts intensified efforts to find a vaccine for a disease that has shut down Chinese cities and forced thousands more into quarantine around the world.On Wednesday, the domestic markets had continued their rally for the third straight day, with the Sensex ending353.28 points - or 0.87 per cent - higher at41,142.66 and the Nifty settling at12,089.15, up 109.50 points - or 0.91 per cent - from its previous close.