Domestic stock markets started Friday's session on a higher note, after seven days of losses, tracking a recovery in Asian peers from two-month lows as investors hoped for a trade deal between the US and China. The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 150.96 points to touch 37,709.87 in early trade, and the NSE Nifty moved to 11,342.55, up 40.75 points from the previous close. Buying in banking stocks pushed the markets higher however selling in information technology counters kept the gains in check.
At 9:36 the Sensex traded 98.88 points - or 0.26 per cent - higher at 37,657.79 while the Nifty was up 27.10 points - or 0.24 per cent - at 11,328.90.
Top gainers on the 50-scrip index at the time were Zee Entertainment, Yes Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance and ICICI Bank, trading between 1.07 per cent and 2.50 per cent higher.
Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and HDFC contributed the most to the advances on Sensex.
State Bank of India (SBI) shares rose as much as 1.14 per cent in intraday trade, ahead of the earnings announcement by the banking major.
Equities in other Asian markets inched up from two-month lows hours ahead of the Trump administration's plan to raise tariffs on Chinese imports, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticking up 0.2 per cent. Japan's Nikkei index rose 0.4 per cent.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had received a "beautiful letter" from Chinese President Xi Jinping, stoking hopes that Washington may suspend its plan to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 per cent from 10 per cent. That provided some support for stocks in early Asian trade though sentiment remains cautious.
The domestic markets had closed lower in past seven consecutive sessions. The Nifty lost 452.85 points, or 3.85 per cent, during this period.