Avenue Supermart is trading lower, while Yes Bank, HDFC, TCS, Indiabulls Housing, Dhampur Sugar, Praj Industries are among the major gainers in the pre-opening trade

Shares of AU Small Finance are down around a percent on Monday morning even as the lender reported 34 percent rise in net profit to Rs 91.4 crore for the second quarter of 2018-19.

The bank had reported a net profit of Rs 68.2 crore in the July-September period of 2017-18.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever are down around 3 percent even as the firm reported 20 percent jump in Q2 net profit at Rs 1,525 crore. The volume growth had beaten expectations. 

Larsen & Toubro’s heavy engineering arm has secured additional orders worth Rs 1,050 crore in the second quarter of FY19.

These include three Super Heavy Hydrocracking Reactors for an Indian Refinery, with heaviest among them weighing 2,180 MT, to be built for the first time in the World. 

Crude oil futures rose sharply as geopolitical tensions over the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist stoked worries about supply, although concerns about the long-term outlook for demand dragged on prices.

Crude markets were also supported in the wake of data that showed South Korea did not import any oil from Iran in September for the first time in six years, before U.S. sanctions against the Middle East country take effect in November.

Brent crude had risen 98 cents, or 1.22 percent, to 81.41 a barrel, on track for its biggest daily gain since October 9.

US crude futures climbed 74 cents, or 1.04 percent, to $72.08 a barrel, extending gains they racked up on Friday after hefty losses on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Benchmark indices opened flat on Monday amid weak Asian cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 3.91 points at 34,729.67 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 6.30 points to 10,466.20.

Nifty Midcap index gained 80 points. AU Small Finance Bank, Jay Bharat Maruti, Praj Industries, Bajaj Hindusthan, Triveni Engineering, Shree Renuka, CESC, Balrampur Chini, Info Edge and Dilip Buildcon rallied 1-8 percent. Avenue Supermarts fell 6 percent.

The Indian rupee slipped in the early trade on Monday. It has opened lower by 24 paise at 73.80 per dollar on Monday versus Friday close 73.56.

Benchmark indices are trading strong in the pre-opening trade with Nifty is trading above 10,600.

At 09:02 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 258.48 points or 0.74% at 34992.06, and the Nifty up 122.80 points or 1.17% at 10595.30.

Avenue Supermart is down, while Yes Bank, HDFC, TCS, Indiabulls Housing, Dhampur Sugar, Praj Industries are among the major gainers in the pre-opening trade

The dollar firmed against the pound and euro on Monday as British efforts to secure a Brexit deal ahead of a key European Union summit kept global investors’ preference to safe haven currencies, reported Reuters.

Crude oil futures rose sharply on Monday as geopolitical tensions over the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist stoked worries about supply, although concerns about the long-term outlook for demand dragged on prices, reported Reuters.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat to negative opening for the broader index in India, a fall of 4.50 points or 0.04 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 10,474.50-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

Asian shares slipped on Monday as worries over Sino-US trade disputes, a possible slowdown in the Chinese economy and higher US borrowing costs tempered optimism despite a rebound in global equities late last week.

Not helping the mood, oil prices jumped and Saudi Arabian shares tumbled on rising diplomatic tensions between Riyadh and the West after the monarchy warned against threats to punish it over disappearance of a journalist.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent while Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.9 percent.

Even the hard-hit S&P500 energy and financial sectors managed to close the session with slight gains after a late afternoon rally.

The S&P technology index gained 3.2 percent on the day, showing its strongest one-day gain since March 26, although it still registered its biggest weekly drop since March 23.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 287.16 points, or 1.15 percent, to 25,339.99, the S&P 500 gained 38.76 points, or 1.42 percent, to 2,767.13 and the Nasdaq Composite added 167.83 points, or 2.29 percent, to 7,496.89.

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