Market LIVE: Sensex rallies 900 pts, Nifty tops 16,850; Bank index up 2%

Live market updates: The key benchmark indices firmly held strong gains in noon deals amid sustained buying interest in banking and IT shares. With today's upmove, the markets have extended gains into the fifth straight session. The major market mover this week will be the US Federal Reserve meeting on March 15-16, other than the Russia-Ukraine war.

The BSE Sensex gained over 600 points, and the NSE Nifty was up 160-odd points nearing the 16,800-mark. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Asian markets, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite slumped 3.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, following fresh Covid-19 related curbs in China. 

Among the Sensex 30 shares, HDFC Bank, SBI, and Infosys were up 3 per cent each. Wipro, Axis Bank and HCL Technologies were the other prominent gainers. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance were the notable losers.

The broader markets were seen underperforming the benchmark BSE 30. The BSE Midcap index slipped 0.23 per cent, while the Smallcap was in green by the same quantum.

Among sectors, the BSE Bankex and IT index soared 1.5 per cent each. Whereas, the Realty index slipped nearly 2 per cent; Metal and Oil & Gas indices were down over a per cent each.