Market opening: SENSEX up 124 pts, NIFTY50 at 24,377; Trent, SBI top gainers

The Indian stock market opened on a weak note on Monday, April 20, but staged a recovery to trade in the green, as investors remained cautious amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

In the broader market, both the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 were seen 0.53% and 0.18% higher, respectively.

Among sectors, except for Nifty Metal (-0.46%) and Nifty Oil & Gas (-0.06%), all the other gauges were trading in green. Nifty PSU Bank (1.13%), Nifty Media (0.91%) and Nifty Consumer Durables (0.36%) were the top gainers.

Crude oil prices surged above $95 per barrel after witnessing a sharp fall on Friday on the back of rising hopes while dashed expectations with regard to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

According to exchange data, on Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹683.20 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities worth ₹4,721.48 crore on a net basis.

Among the global markets, the Asian stocks were trading higher, taking cues from the strong closing of US markets on Friday despite a volatile geopolitical situation in West Asia. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.95%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.77%, South Korea's KOSPI jumped 1.23% and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.6%.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index advanced 1.2% at close on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 1.52%.

Market statistics

As many as 2,930 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,030 advanced, 1,796 declined, and 104 shares remained unchanged.

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

Meanwhile, 95 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while only 4 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 62 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 26 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 18.21 levels, rising 5.82%.

Top gainers and losers

As many as 36 stocks advanced, while 14 were trading in the red during the opening session on the NIFTY50 index.

Trent was the top contributing stock, rising 2.3%, followed by State Bank of India (1.78%), ICICI Bank (1.59%), Adani Enterprises (1.14%) and Max Healthcare (1.07%).

On the flip side, Jio Financial Services (-2.44%), Hindalco Industries (-1.72%), Tata Motors PV (-0.97%), Coal India (-0.79%) and HDFC Bank (-0.74%) were the top laggards on the 50-share index.