Sensex rises by over 300 points in early trading; Nifty crosses 15,400

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 300 points in early trade on Friday tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank amid positive cues from global markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 306.57 points or 0.60 per cent higher at 51,421.79, and the broader NSE Nifty surged 101.15 points or 0.66 per cent to 15,439. ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 3 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, SBI, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Nestle India were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 97.70 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 51,115.22, and Nifty rose 36.40 points or 0.24 per cent to 15,337.85. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 660.90 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data. According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the best news for the economy and markets is coming from the COVID data which has shown a dip in fresh cases to 1.75 lakhs during the last 24 hours. “This will certainly pave the way for the progressive removal of restrictions on economic activity,” he said. Global cues are positive with the US economy showing a rise in jobs indicating sharp economic recovery. Equities on Wall Street largely ended with gains in the overnight session. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo trading on a positive note in mid-session deals. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.39 per cent higher at USD 69.47 per barrel. Disclaimer: Network18 and TV18 - the companies that operate Firstpost - are controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary