All sectoral indices are trading in the green, with maximum gain seen in metal, energy and PSU banks.

The bulls continues their upward momentum as equity benchmarks have start the day on a strong note, with Nifty, Sensex and Nifty Bank opened at record high. Sensex touched 38,000 for the first time, while Nifty is trading around 11,500.

The Sensex is up 117.47 points at 38,005.03, and the Nifty up 27.70 points at 11,477.70. About 671 shares have advanced, 348 shares declined, and 61 shares are unchanged.

All sectoral indices are trading in the green, with maximum gain seen in metal, energy and PSU banks.

HPCL, BPCL, IOC, Axis Bank, SBI, Hindalco, Vedanta, Selan Exploration are the gainers, while Lupin, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Titan, Ashok Leyland, NMDC are on the losing side in the morning trade.

Market at pre-open: Pre-opening trends indicate that the Sensex and Nifty have strong start with Nifty hitting another milestone of 11,500.

At 09:02 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 125.28 points at 38,012.84, and the Nifty up 51.10 points at 11,501.10.

Indian Bank, HPCL, BPCL, Cipla, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries are among the major gainers in the pre-opening trade.

Rupee Opens: The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Thursday. It has opened higher by 14 paise at 68.48 per dollar against previous close 68.62.

Rupee closed almost flat against the US dollar and traded with low volatility as most market participants have been following escalation of ongoing trade war between two major economies, said Motilal Oswal.

Yesterday, Chinese commerce ministry announced that it has decided to impose additional tariffs of 25% on USD 16 billion worth of US imports from fuel and steel products to autos and medical equipment.

The tariffs will be activated on August 23, the ministry said, the same day that the United States plans to begin collecting 25% extra in tariffs on USD 16 billion of Chinese goods. Dollar corrected against its major crosses after the announcement and that supported the rupee on lower levels. Today, USD-INR pair is expected to quote in the range of 68.40 and 68.95, it added.

source: moneycontrol.com