Sensex soars over 400 points in early trade

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 400 points in opening trade on Thursday led by strong buying sentiment in IT and banking stocks amid positive cues from global markets and sustained foreign fund inflow.

The 30-share index was trading 452.15 points or 1.13 per cent higher at 40,331.10, and the NSE Nifty soared 117.50 points or 1 per cent to 11,856.35.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging over 4 per cent, after the IT major announced a mega-Rs 16,000 crore buyback plan at Rs 3,000 per equity share.

The firm, meanwhile, reported a 6.87 per cent dip in the September quarter net at Rs 7,504 crore but said the demand has recovered faster than projected and will be sustainable going forward as well.

In the Sensex pack, the other stocks that were trading on a positive note include HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and SBI.

On the other hand, ONGC, Asian Paints, Titan, ITC and PowerGrid were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 304.38 points or 0.77 per cent higher at 39,878.95, while Nifty jumped 76.45 points or 0.66 per cent to close at



11,738.85.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,093.81 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.

According to Arjun Mahajan, Head - Institutional Business - at Reliance Securities, while there is still some amount of ambiguity about fiscal stimulus, US President Donald Trump's remark to sign separate fiscal stimulus created positive sentiments which led US markets to move higher.

Indian market is expected to move in tandem with global markets, he said, adding that better prospects of 2Q earnings and continued hope about domestic fiscal stimulus will provide support to domestic benchmarks.

IT stocks are likely to be in focus after solid 2Q numbers reported by TCS along with announcement of the buyback offer, he added.

Meanwhile, on the global front, bourses in Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong was in the red. Stock exchanges in Shanghai were closed for holidays.

Wall Street indices ended with significant gains in the overnight session.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.17 per cent higher at USD 42.06 per barrel.