Sensex Zooms Over 600 Points in Early Trade; Nifty Tests 15,100

Mumbai, May 18: Equity benchmark Sensex soared over 600 points in early trade on Tuesday, led by gains in index majors HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Infosys amid a positive trend in global markets.

Topping the 50,000 mark in the opening session, the 30-share BSE index was trading 601 points or 1.21 per cent higher at 50,181.73. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 178.40 points or 1.20 per cent to 15,101.55.

All Sensex components were trading in the positive terrain, with Bajaj Finance advancing over 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank.

In the previous session, Sensex zoomed 848.18 points or 1.74 per cent to end at 49,580.73; and Nifty surged 245.35 points or 1.67 per cent to settle at 14,923.15.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,255.84 crore on Monday, as per provisional exchange data.

According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the positive trigger for the market now is the steadily declining fresh COVID cases and the steadily rising recovery rates.

"The latest numbers (2.62 lakh fresh cases and 4.22 lakh recoveries) indicate a continuation of this positive trend. The market is discounting progressive lifting of the widespread lockdowns starting in early June. Even though growth and earnings will be impacted in Q1, smart recovery can be expected in the subsequent quarters," he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Equities on Wall Street ended with losses in overnight trade. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.39 per cent higher at USD 69.73 per barrel.

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