The Sensex gains were driven by heavyweight Reliance Industries, followed by automakers like Heromoto Corp and Tata Motors. (Photo: File)

Mumbai: Indian share market nudged higher in opening deals on Thursday, helped by hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank later in the day and a possibility of a trade deal between the US and China sooner than speculated.

The RBI will announce its monetary policy decision at 1145 hours, followed by a press conference.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading higher by 84.17 points at 40,934.46 in opening deals; while the broader 50-share NSE Nifty was up by 21.95 points at 12,065.15.

The Sensex gains were driven by heavyweight Reliance Industries, followed by automakers like Heromoto Corp and Tata Motors.

On the other hand, telecom and IT stocks were trading in the red.

Asian markets were slightly higher on hopes that the US and China might be able to sign a preliminary trade deal, though uncertainties still remained intact due to almost daily shifts in prospects for early talks.

On Wednesday, the Sensex closed at 40,850.29, up by 174.84 points or 0.43 per cent over the previous close.

The Nifty rose by 43.10 points or 0.36 per cent to end at 12,037.30.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee was trading flat at 71.53 in opening deals.

Foreign investors sold equities worth Rs 781.06 crore on Wednesday, exchange data showed.