Sensex surges by 90 points in early trade

The BSE benchmark Sensex gained over 90 points in opening trade on Monday on the back of selective buying in blue-chips amid covering up of pending short positions by speculators.

The 30-share Sensex, which lost 74.66 points in the previous session on Friday, rose by 90.11 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 15,828.81 (rpt) 15,828.81 in opening trade.

In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index moved up by 24.80 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 4,738.80.

All the sectoral indices, led by capital goods and metals, were trading in the positive zone with gains of up to 0.86 per cent.

Brokers said apart from fresh buying by retail investors, covering up of pending short positions by speculators in view of monthly expiry in the derivatives segment later this week supported the recovery.

They said, however, the absence of overseas cues, as most markets were closed for the Christmas holidays, limited the gains.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Index rose by 1.37 per cent in morning trade on Monday, while the US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.02 per cent higher in Friday trade.