Sensex Gains 400 Points In Early Trade

Indian benchmark indices snapped their five-day losing streak on Thursday morning (March 18) after the foreign markets backed the rally as they closed with record highs post Fed’s commentary which predicted a rapid growth in the economy after the pandemic and also maintained interest rates close to zero.

In the international market, S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed with record highs on Thursday, Dow crossed 33000 for the first time ever in history. The Asian and Singaporean exchanges also indicated a positive opening for the Indian equities as investors cheered major announcements from the U.S. 

Led by positive global cues, Sensex opened higher by 438 points at 50,239.74, while the 50-share pack Nifty-50 marked a gain of 135 points at 14,855.90. The benchmark BSE index added 400 points to trade above 50,200 in the pre-market session.

After a long week of selling, traders and investors shifted gears in the banking stocks on Thursday morning as the Nifty Bank index jumped over a per cent minutes after market opening. Buying was witnessed in shares of Axis Bank, RBL Bank, SBI and InusInd Bank.

Bajaj Finance leading the financials, gained over two per cent at Rs 5,545 and made to the top index gainer on market opening. The stock added major support to the BSE index in terms of value.

However, among the sectors, the IT sector saw profit booking after some stocks in the sector added numbers in the previous session. Infosys, HCL Tech and Wipro contributed to the top losers of index at opening.

On the other hand, Auto stocks climbed higher and led the Nifty Auto index to climb over a per cent led by Bharat Forge, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors.

The overall market breadth supported the bulls as above 1200 shares advanced in the early session and only 240 shares declined.