Sensex rallies over 300 points in early trade; Nifty tops 11,800

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 300 points in opening trade on Monday tracking strong gains in HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank amid positive cues from global markets.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 322.40 points or 0.81 per cent higher at 40,305.38, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 85.80 points or 0.73 per cent to 11,848.25.

ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 4 per cent, followed by NTPC, HDFC, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid and Nestle India.

On the other hand, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Sun Pharma were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex closed 254.57 points or 0.64 per cent higher at 39,982.98, while Nifty settled 82.10 points or 0.70 per cent up at 11,762.45.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 479.59 crore on a net basis on Friday.

"Trade set up in India looks to be good for the day led by positive global cues," said Arjun Mahajan Head Institutional Business at Reliance Securities.

Strong 2Q numbers and commentary from HDFC Bank are likely to be in focus, which can also create positive sentiment on banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) counters, he added.

Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the red after the release of China's GDP numbers.

China's economic growth accelerated to 4.9 per cent over a year earlier in the latest quarter as a shaky recovery from the coronavirus pandemic gathered strength.

The economy "continued the steady recovery," China's National Bureau of Statistics said in a report.

However, it warned, "the international environment is still complicated and severe." It said China still faces "great pressure" to prevent a resurgence of the virus.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.37 per cent lower at USD 42.77 per barrel.