Sensex above 40,000 mark as PM Modi begins second term

Equity benchmark indices traded higher in early hours on Friday as markets cheered the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a second term on hopes of a stable government.

Equities have been on a high since Modi won a massive mandate in the recent general elections.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was up 262 points at 40,094 while the Nifty 50 gained 85 points to 12,030. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive zone.

Among the early gainers were oil marketing firms Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil, which gained nearly 5 per cent, power utility major NTPC, Asian Paints and Tata Consultancy Services.

However, Sun Pharma, Grasim, Vedanta, JSW Steel and Zee Entertainment traded in the red.

Meanwhile, Asian shares slid at first but soon drew month-end bargain hunting. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.3 per cent.

China's blue chip index added 0.7 per cent but investors remained concerned over the US-China trade conflict.

In a surprise move, US President Donald Trump said a day earlier that Washington will impose a 5 per cent tariff on Mexican goods from June 10, which will steadily increase to 25 per cent, until illegal immigration across the southern border stops.

-ANI