Sensex rallies over 600 points in early trade

Mumbai: Market benchmark Sensex rallied over 600 points in early trade on Thursday, driven by gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and Infosys amid a positive trend in Asian equities.

The 30-share BSE index reclaimed the 50,000-level and was trading 606.19 points or 1.22 per cent higher at 50,340.03 in initial deals.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 169.30 points or 1.14 per cent to 15,033.85.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, ONGC, Kotak Bank and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, Nestle India, HCL Tech and Sun Pharma were the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex surged 789.70 points or 1.61 per cent to finish at 49,733.84, and Nifty jumped 211.50 points or 1.44 per cent to 14,864.55.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 766.02 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 436.20 crore, according to provisional exchange



data.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, “the resilience of the market amidst the gloomy pandemic-related news has taken most market players by surprise.” Nifty has gained more than 500 points during the last five trading sessions.

“The favourable global market scenario is playing an important role in this vaccine-powered hope trade. The US Federal Reserve meet, as expected, has kept rates and the bond-buying program unchanged, reiterating the accommodative stance. Sustained bond-buying has the risk of higher asset price inflation in the market.

“The localised lockdowns and curfews have not impacted industrial activity much but there is a downside risk to GDP growth and earnings estimates,” he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Bourses on Wall Street ended with losses in overnight sessions.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.33 per cent higher at USD 67 per barrel.