The BSE benchmark Sensex rallied over 347 points to cross 39,000 points on the first day of the new financial year on Monday, driven by sustained buying mainly in metal, auto and financial stocks amid positive global cues.

The NSE benchmark Nifty50 also witnessed strong gains and crossed the 11,710-mark.

Around 10:25 am, the BSE Sensex was 349 points, or 0.90 per cent, up at 39,021, while the Nifty index was 88 points, or 0.75 per cent, up at 11,712.

On the Sensex chart, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and ICICI Bank led the rally.

Asian markets were trading positively amid optimism over China-US trade talks and expansion in manufacturing activity in China in March.

China and the US gave signs of some progress in their last week’s discussions on the trade tariff tussle, with another round of talks scheduled to be held this week in Washington.

The BSE Sensex had risen over 127 points to close at 38,672.91 on Friday — the last trading day of fiscal 2018-19 during which the benchmark posted a rise of 17.30 per cent.

The broader NSE Nifty closed at 11,623.90, capping off the financial year with a gain of 14.93 per cent.

Investors’ wealth zoomed Rs 8.83 lakh crore during 2018-19, with the market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies reaching Rs 1,51,08,711.01 crore.

(With agency inputs)