S&P BSE Sensex NSE Nifty 50 LIVE Sensex Nifty Open Higher Tracking Global Markets Amid COVID-19

Sensex, Nifty Rise 2% Backed By Gains Across Sectors

Gains across sectors - led by financial, automobile and metal stocks - pushed the markets higher

Domestic stock markets started Friday's session on a positive note tracking gains in global peers, as the country remained in the third phase of a nationwide lockdown with few exceptions to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 2.05 per cent - or 645.13 points - to touch 32,088.51 in the first few minutes of trade, having started the session at 32,083.32. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark climbed to as high as 9,382.65, after starting the session at 9,376.95 compared to its previous close of 9,199.05. Gains across sectors - led by financial, automobile and metal stocks - pushed the markets higher.

Sensex, Nifty LIVE Updates - Here are 10 things to know about the markets today:

At 9:23 am, the Sensex traded 452.03 points - or 1.44 per cent - higher at 31,895.41 while the Nifty was up 141.20 points (1.53 per cent) at 9,340.25.
In the 50-scrip Nifty index, top percentage gainers were Dr Reddy's Laboratories, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Hindalco and Reliance Industries, trading between 2.33 per cent and 4.07 per cent higher.
On the other hand, Asian Paints, Power Grid and Bharti Infratel - down 1.32 per cent, 0.90 per cent and 0.26 per cent respectively - were the only Nifty losers.
Reliance Industries (up 2.59 per cent), HDFC Bank (1.61 per cent) and ICICI Bank (2.42 per cent) together contributed more than 200 points to the gain in Sensex.
Reliance Industries shares rose as much as 2.84 per cent to touch the Rs 1,550 level on the BSE, after the billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate said US-based Vista Equity Partners will invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio Platforms.
The deal will value Jio Platforms, which houses Reliance Industries's telecoms arm Reliance Jio Infocomm, at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore, Reliance Industries said early on Friday.
Analysts awaited financial results for the January-March period from large cap companies. ICICI Bank will report its earnings for the quarter ended March 31 on Saturday.
Equities in other Asian markets tracked overnight gains in Wall Street, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan last seen trading 1.00 per cent higher while Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was up 1.78 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI indices were up 0.59 per cent, 0.99 per cent and 1.32 per cent respectively.
On Thursday, US markets rose, with the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite indices ending 1.15 per cent, 0.89 per cent and 1.41 per cent higher respectively.
The Sensex had ended 242.37 points - or 0.76 per cent - lower at 31,443.38 on Thursday, and the Nifty settled at 9,199.05, down 71.85 points (0.78 per cent) from the previous close.