SENSEX rises over 200 points, NIFTY50 trades above 24,300 led by HDFC Bank, Infosys

The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Monday, August 24, on the back of softening crude prices in global markets. The SENSEX rose as much as 249 points to 77,789 and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,313 powered by gains in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

As of 9:28 am, the SENSEX was up 184 points at 77,724 and NIFTY50 index advanced 37 points to 24,289.

Asian share markets were trading lower as investors awaited details of threatened US sanctions on Iran due later in the session, while the Canadian dollar dipped as a trade war loomed with its southern neighbour.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.05%, China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.9%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 2.14% and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 2.33%.

US stocks ended higher on Friday. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.98%, S&P 500 index advanced 0.43% and tech heavy Nasdaq index rose 0.4%.

Most US companies have reported bigger profits for the spring than analysts expected, which has helped drive stocks to records recently. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, news agency AP reported.

Back home, nine of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading higher led by the NIFTY IT index's nearly 1% gain. NIFTY Metal, Financial Services, Media, Realty, Private Bank, and Oil Gas indices also rose between 0.2% and 0.6%.

On the other hand, auto, FMCG, pharma, PSU bank, healthcare and consumer durable shares were facing selling pressure.

Broader markets were witnessing buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.26% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.45%.

Infosys was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 1.6% to ₹1,138. HCL Technologies, Hindalco, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Coal India, IndiGo, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Adani Enterprises also rose between 0.45% and 1.3%.

On the flip side, Cipla Grasim Industries, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Titan, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and Apollo Hospitals were top loser in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,107 shares were advancing while 966 were declining on the NSE.