Indian bourses extended opening gains on Friday on the back of an imminent United States-China trade pact and the Conservative Party's win in the UK general elections.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex was trading 336 points higher at 40,910 levels. Surpassing the psychological mark of 12,050, the Nifty 50 index touched the level of 12,060, up 86 points in morning trade. The rupee also opened 31 paise higher than the dollar at 70.53 on optimism that the US and China are close to striking a trade deal.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the US was "very close" to finalising a trade deal with China. It is believed, according to sources that US negotiators have offered to cut existing tariff rates on $360 billion worth of Chinese goods by as much as 50 per cent.
The US had imposed a 25 per cent duty on about $250 billion of Chinese products and a 15 per cent levy on another $110 billion of its Chinese imports during the ongoing trade war.
In addition to the US-China trade deal, the re-election of Boris Johnson as the British prime minister in the country's general elections should end the uncertainty over Brexit.
It will also help him to take the UK out of the European Union by the end of next month. With this, Indian companies, which earn significant revenues from the UK market gained in Friday's trade. Shares of Tata Motors, which gets about 16.30 per cent revenue from the UK, were up about 3 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The majority of Asian peers were also trading higher on positive global developments. The Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai exchanges also gained up to 2.50 per cent in Friday trade.
