The markets opened on a positive note on Friday (7 May). At 9:18 AM, the Sensex was up 345 points at 49,294 while the Nifty rose 114 points to 14,838 tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, Reliance Industries and TCS amid positive cues from global markets.
The 30-share BSE index was trading 416.43 points or 0.85 percent higher at 49,366.19 in initial deals. NSE Nifty surged 121.10 points or 0.82 percent to 14,845.90. IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack and rose over 2 percent.
Financial and banking stocks were among the early gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, State Bank of India, and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 1 percent each. Tech Mahindra, Power Grid and ONGC were among the laggards when the market opened.
In the previous session, Sensex closed higher by 272.21 points or 0.56 percent at 48,949.76, and Nifty ended with a gain of 106.95 points or 0.73 percent at 14,724.80.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth Rs 1,222.58 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 632.51 crore, according to provisional exchange data.
"There is a view among many market experts that the present resilience of the market (down only around 5 per cent from February highs) is irrational when viewed from the perspective of the health crisis and pain that the nation and the economy are going through,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services to PTI.
Vijayakumar further said "while there is logic in this view, it is important to appreciate the fact that we are part of the global bull market and the resilience of the Indian market mainly arises from the ''hope trade'' being fuelled by the expectation that the second wave will peak in May and the economy will quickly rebound."
Q4 results have been broadly above expectations. The market may continue to be resilient, he added.
Today (May 7), around 25 companies including Housing Development Finance Corporation, Dabur India, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Cholamandalam Investment, Navin Fluorine, EIH and Godrej Agrovet, will announce their January-March quarter earnings.
In one of the steepest increases since daily price revision was started, petrol price on Friday was hiked by 28 paise per litre and diesel by 31 paise as oil companies raised rates for the fourth straight day to pass on to consumers the increase in international oil prices.
Asian markets trade positive
In Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.
Equities on Wall Street ended with gains in overnight trade.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.57 percent higher at $68.48 per barrel.
