Sensex rallies over 400 points in early trade; Bajaj Finance, ONGC, SBI among top gainers

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 400 points in early trade on Thursday, led by gains in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries amid positive cues from global markets and foreign fund inflows. The 30-share BSE index was trading 436.79 points or 0.88 percent higher at 50,238.41, and the broader NSE Nifty was up 131.55 points or 0.89 percent at 14,852.85. Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 percent, followed by ONGC, M&M, Maruti, ICICI Bank, SBI, HFC twins and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, Infosys and Dr Reddy’s were the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 562.34 points or 1.12 percent lower at 49,801.62, while Nifty slumped 189.15 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 14,721.30. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 2,625.82 crore, as per exchange data. According to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meet is very positive for equity markets. “Fed’s accommodative monetary stance is appropriate and will continue through 2023 mean the ample liquidity condition and the low-interest rate will sustain for an extended period of time. “The better than expected news is the Fed raising US GDP growth to 6.5 percent and signal at inflation above two percent will be tolerated for some time - Very good news for the bulls,” he noted. After its two-day policy meeting, the US Fed reassured investors that it expects to keep its key interest rate near zero through 2023. Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended with gains in the overnight session. A concern in India, however, is the second wave of COVID-19 attack in parts of the country, particularly in Maharashtra. But, going by experiences this is unlikely to impact the market much, he said, adding that the second wave in the US and Europe (much less in intensity) didn’t impact markets. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.76 percent lower at US $67.48 per barrel. .