Sensex surges over 600 points in early trade; ICICI Bank rallies 5 per cent

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Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 600 points in early trade on Monday, tracking gains in index majors ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Kotak Bank amid positive trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 641.35 points or 1.34 per cent higher at 48,519.80. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 178.90 points or 1.25 per cent to 14,520.25.

ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 5 per cent, after the lender on Saturday reported a nearly four-fold jump in its March quarter consolidated profit at Rs 4,886 crore, as against Rs 1,251 crore in the year-ago period.

UltraTech Cement, SBI, ONGC, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Finance were also among the gainers. On the other hand, HCL Tech, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 202.22 points or 0.42 per cent lower at 47,878.45, and Nifty dropped 64.80 points or 0.45 per cent to close at 14,341.35.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,360.76 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data. Domestic equities look to be positive at the moment, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

He noted that while a persistent rise in COVID-19 cases across the nation and enhanced economic restrictions have dented investor sentiments over the last couple of weeks, manufacturing and infrastructure activities have not halted yet and companies appeared to be proactive this time to convince most workers to stay back by offering basic amenities and facilities.

"Therefore, a large economic damage like last year is unlikely to happen. Further, cancellation of bond auctioning at higher rate by the RBI last week validates RBI's strong commitment to maintain low-rate interest scenario and support economic activities," he said.

Active COVID-19 cases in India stood at 28,13,658, up from 26,82,751 cases registered on Thursday, according to Union Health Ministry data. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.41 per cent lower at USD 65.15 per barrel.

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