Sensex rallies over 450 points in opening session

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 450 points in early trade on Thursday driven by gains in index-heavyweights HDFC duo, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank amid positive cues from US equities.

The 30-share index was trading 466.26 points or 1.22 per cent higher at 38,534.19, and the NSE Nifty rose 128.45 points or 1.14 per cent to 11,376.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, HDFC twins and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, ONGC, Titan and Nestle India were the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 94.71 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 38,067.93, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 25.15



points or 0.22 per cent to 11,247.55.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 712.48 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.

According to traders, domestic equities opened on a strong note following positive cues from US equities amid thin trade in other Asian markets.

Bourses in Japan halted trading after the Tokyo Stock Exchange witnessed a technical glitch earlier in the day.

Exchanges in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were closed for holidays.

Wall Street indices ended on a positive note in the overnight session.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.02 per cent lower at USD 42.29 per barrel.