Sensex rallies over 500 points in early trade
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 500 points in opening trade on Friday, buoyed by gains in financial and IT stocks amid positive global cues. Sensex was trading 0.98 percent higher at 51,782.79, and the broader NSE Nifty was quoting 0.95 percent up at 15,319.15. On Wednesday, the Sensex ended at 51,279.51, and the Nifty at 15,174.80. Markets remained closed on Thursday for Mahashivratri.
Who were the top gainers and losers?
L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 percent, followed by ONGC, NTPC, HDFC Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Infosys, and TCS. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, HUL, and Maruti were among the laggards.
Massive fiscal stimulus resulted in a huge push to markets
Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers as they sold shares worth Rs. 15.69 crore on Wednesday. According to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the "risk on" in global equity markets got another push with the passage of a massive fiscal stimulus. US President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan which resulted in gains for US equities.
Brent crude is trading at $69.53 per barrel
Nifty is likely to reach a record high since SGX Nifty is indicating 15,400 levels. IT is leading this leg of the rally. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong was in the red. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.14 percent lower at $69.53 per barrel.
