Sensex jumps over 350 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 15,650

Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 350 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and Infosys amid a largely positive trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 361.24 points or 0.70 percent higher at 52,210.72 in initial deals, and the broader NSE Nifty jumped 100.25 points or 0.64 per cent to 15,676.45. Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 percent, followed by Reliance Industries, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, HDFC, ONGC and Infosys. On the other hand, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, Dr Reddy’s, SBI and Sun Pharma were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 85.40 points or 0.16 percent lower at 51,849.48, while Nifty inched up 1.35 points or 0.01 percent to 15,576.20. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth 921.10 crores on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data. Domestic equities look to be good as of now. Increased optimism about economic recovery with continuous fall in daily caseload in second COVID wave and improvement in recovery rates has already led domestic equities to new highs, said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities. Further, the beginning of the gradual withdrawal of restrictions by states, which hints at the improvement in economic indicators from the current month, also lifted market mood, he added. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were trading in the positive territory in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong was in the red. Equities on Wall Street closed with gains in the overnight session. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.62 percent higher at $71.79 per barrel.