Indices open higher; SENSEX rises 347 points, NIFTY50 above 25,400 on global cues; Axis Bank leads gain

The Indian equity market opened higher for the second session on Thursday, October 16, tracking global cues and support from the private sector bank stocks.

The broader market also opened with gains, with both Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.16% and 0.43%, respectively.

Among sectors, Nifty Private Bank (0.95%) led the gains, driven largely by Axis Bank, which jumped 4% following its September-quarter results. Nifty Realty (0.65%), Nifty Auto (0.53%), Nifty Consumer Durables (0.52%), and Nifty PSU Bank (0.51%) also added to the positive momentum.

Meanwhile, Nifty IT (-0.15%) and Nifty Metal (-0.09%) were the only laggards among the sectoral indices.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹68.64 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹4,650.08 crore on a net basis.

Globally, most Asian indices traded higher on Thursday amid growing expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cuts. However, renewed US–China trade tensions capped the overall gains.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.71%, Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.43%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng also slipped 0.45%, and South Korea's KOSPI jumped 1.78%. The Shanghai Composite also showed a marginal increase of 0.10%.

On Wall Street, the main benchmarks managed to close higher after a volatile session as technology stocks helped lead the way following a better-than-expected profit report from ASML, a major supplier to the semiconductor industry.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.4%, the Dow Jones ended marginally lower by 0.04%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.66%.

As many as 2,673 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 2,058 advanced, 548 declined, and 67 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards advances.

Meanwhile, 47 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 25 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 42 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 20 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 10.46 levels, slipping 0.66%.

Axis Bank was the biggest contributor, gaining 2.79%, followed by Bajaj Auto (1.38%), Adani Ports (1.32%), Eicher Motors (1.31%) and Adani Enterprises (1.23%).

On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance (-2.83%), SBI Life Insurance (-1.66%), Shriram Finance (-0.99%), Infosys (-0.41%) and Sun Pharma (-0.33%) were the top laggards on the 50-share index.