Nifty holds 17,000-mark; Europe stocks open higher

Benchmark indices traded higher on Monday after reports of advanced talks for the acquisition of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) brought relief to markets, although fears of contagion in the global banking system lingered.

The market will be keenly watching on US and Europe GDP data to be released this week and also the US and European Central Bank commentary after fears of a new financial crisis in Deutsche Bank. On the domestic front, auto monthly sales data and March series F&O expiry will be in focus.

Currently, the Sensex is trading 57,685.72 levels, up by 158 points or 0.28%, whereas Nifty50 rose by 55 points or 0.33% at 17,000.25.

Reliance Industries, ONGC, Divis Lab, Grasim and Cipla were among top gainers, while Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, M&M and Adani Enterprise among top laggards.

On the sectoral front, pharma, IT and FMCG were top sectoral gainer on Monday. Losers included Realty, media, auto and private banks.

Meanwhile, European stocks were higher with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 1% in early trade as most sectors climbed. Banks led gains, up 1.3%, while construction stocks were up 1%, whereas mining stocks posted narrow losses.

Last Friday, Deutsche Bank shares saw a sell-off after the German lender’s credit default swaps jumped. The stock was up 4.3% early Monday.

Further, U.S. stock futures edged higher following a winning week on Wall Street.