Opening Bell: Sensex rallies over 600 points, Nifty opens above 14,700 on strong global cues; auto, IT, metals lead

The Indian equity benchmark indices opened higher on Monday on a strong note led by across-the-board buying amid positive global cues.

At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened 1.32 percent, or 647.72 points, higher at 49,747.71, while the Nifty50 index opened at 14,702.50, up 173.35 points, or 1.19 percent.

Broader markets, Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 indices gained over 1 percent each

All the sectoral indices were trading in the green led by Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal, Nifty IT and Nifty PSU Bank.

ONGC, IOCL, Coal India, UPL and UltraTech cement led gains among the Nifty constituents, while Bharti Airtel and SBI Life Insurance were the only ones to trade in the red.

Shares of Indian Oil Corporation gained over 3 percent after the company said it will invest Rs 32,946 crore to expand Panipat refinery capacity to 25 million tonnes per year from 15 million tonnes per year earlier.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rallied on Monday as some semblance of calm returned to bond markets after last week's wild ride, while progress in the huge US stimulus package underpinned optimism about the global economy and sent oil prices higher.