Indian shares advance; Unitech soars 20% as govt takes control

Indian stocks gained on Monday on persistent buying by overseas investors amid optimism about global growth.

india trader
Traders work at a brokerage in Mumbai, India. Reuters

Indian stocks gained on Monday on persistent buying by overseas investors amid optimism about global growth.

Asian shares were buoyant following strong U.S payrolls data and better-than-expected Chinese trade data on Friday.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4 percent, staying well above a recent two-month trough of 542.27 points.

At 0610 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.30 percent at 33,351 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.23 percent to 10,289.

Among the top Sensex gainers, Mahindra and Mahindra rose 2.3 percent, Lupin gained 2 percent, Wipro advanced 1.5 percent while HDFC was up 1.4 percent.

Unitech hit 20 percent percent for the second session after the ministry of corporate affairs on Friday sought to take control of the company over allegations of fund diversion.

IL& FS Engineering and Construction jumped 5 percent after the company said it got order worth Rs215.79 crore from Gail India.

State Bank of India rose 1.4 percent after brokerage firm Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to 'buy' with target price at Rs396 a share.

But Max India plunged 5 percent after the Delhi government on Friday cancelled the licence of Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, for alleged medical negligence

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

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