Authors: Super UserThe Sensex surged as much as 344 points to touch an intraday high of 35,259 during Monday's session Sensex and Nifty moved sharply higher today tracking Asian peers, after tepid US jobs data on Friday eased fears of faster rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The US jobs report for April showed unemployment dropping to a 17-1/2 year low of 3.9 per cent but wages barely improved, suggesting the Fed would keep raising rates but at a gradual pace.
European markets were also mostly higher in early trade.
The Sensex rose 292 points to 35,208 while Nifty advanced 104 points to 10,722.Back home, state-run banks witnessed strong buying with the Nifty PSU Bank index rising nearly 2 per cent.
Punjab National Bank shares rose over 2 per cent.
The bank said on Sunday that it targets 10 percent business growth in 2018/19.
The country's biggest lender, SBI, also rose nearly 2 per cent.ICICI Bank, which is scheduled to report its March-quarter results later in the day, was up over 2 per cent.
However, analysts said crude oil prices and the rupee would be the other key factors affecting markets."Movement of crude oil and rupee are likely to move the markets today apart from corporate results," said Rahul Sharma, senior research analyst with Equity99."Increase in bond yield and depreciation in the rupee are key worries for the market.The Indian rupee fell sharply today to weaken past 67 per dollar - lowest since February 2017.Shares of Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd jumped 7 per cent after reports that Patanjali Ayurved had made a bid for the company.Overcoming early weakness, oil marketing companies like Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd rose today even as benchmark Brent crude futures rose to their highest since November 2014.Among top Nifty50 gainers, GAIL India, Mahindra Mahindra, Axis Bank and Hindalco rose 2-4 per cent.Among decliners, Lupin, TCS, Dr Reddy's, Coal India and Cipla fell 1-3 per cent.Shares of Avenue Supermarts fell over 1 per cent after posting weaker-than-expected quarterly results on Saturday.