Mumbai: The Sensex today opened strong, taking a cue from the GST Council offering relief to exporters and SMEs.   

The Council last week made some sweeping changes to give relief to small and medium businesses. It also slashed tax rates on more than two dozen items.   

Asian markets traded both ways. The 30-share index rose 67.10 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 31,881.32. The gauge had soared 222 points in the previous session on Friday.   Sectoral indices took strength from consumer durables, FMCG, healthcare and auto stocks, trading higher by up to 2.12 per cent.   

The NSE index Nifty too edged higher by 10.10 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 9,989.80. Besides, domestic institutional investors pumped in funds unabated. The big gainers that supported the key indices include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Coal India, rising by up to 1.63 per cent.   

Shanghai Composite was up 1.18 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.31 per cent in early deals. Japanese financial markets are shut today for a pubic holiday. US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended marginally lower by 0.01 per cent on Friday. PTI