Equity indices trade higher, autos in focus

Equity benchmark indices traded higher during early hours on Friday on the back of favourable global cues amid progress in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S-P Sensex was up by 470 points or 0.97 per cent at 48,910 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 152 points or 1.06 per cent to 14,477.

Except for Nifty pharma, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green zone with Nifty metal up by 1.6 per cent, realty by 1.6 per cent, auto by 1.4 per cent and FMCG by 1.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Bajaj Finserv gained by 3.3 per cent to Rs 9,359.95 per share while Tata Motors accelerated by 2.9 per cent and Bajaj Auto by 2.5 per cent.

Hindustan Lever, Tata Steel, HDFC and Hindalco also traded with a positive bias.

However, those which lost marginally were ONGC, Reliance Industries, Power Grid Corporation, Dr Reddy's and Cipla.

Meanwhile, Asian shares bounced back from a three-month low after a late-day rally on Wall Street.

MSCI's ex-Japan Asia index rose by 0.37 per cent after hitting a near three-month low a day earlier.

Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.89 per cent.