Sensex surges 508 points; Nifty tops 14,450

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 508 points on Monday, tracking gains in index majors ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank amid a mixed trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE index ended 508.06 points or 1.06 per cent higher at 48,386.51. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 143.65 points or 1 per cent to 14,485.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, HUL, SBI, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Sun Pharma and TCS were among the laggards.

"Domestic equities shrugged off rising COVID-19 cases and rebounded mainly led by sharp recovery in financials," said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities. Barring pharma, most of key sectoral indices traded in green.

Strong March quarter performance led ICICI Bank to recovery sharply, while HCL Technologies witnessed sell-off due to subdued 4Q performance, he added.

With 3,52,991 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, the highest so far, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases has climbed to 1,73,13,163 while active cases have crossed the 28-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the red, while Tokyo and Seoul were in the positive terrain.

Stock exchanges in Europe were largely trading with losses in mid-session deals. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.74 per cent lower at USD 64.28 per barrel.