SENSEX rises over 250 points, NIFTY50 above 23,300 led by ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a gap up opening on Friday, September 18, on the back of positive cues from global markets after crude oil prices dropped and bond yields eased in the United States.

The SENSEX rose as much as 279 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,360 led by index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Eternal, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank.

As of 9:20 am, the SENSEX was up 131 points at 74,446 and NIFTY50 index advanced 38 points to 23,310.

Asian shares were trading higher taking cues from positive closing of US markets and a drop in crude prices.

Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.84%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.76%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.67% and South Korea's KOSPI surged 2%.

Overnight, US benchmark indices surged as easing bond yields provided relief to investor sentiment which was shaken by a selloff in the previous session after US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in three years.

Tech heavy Nasdaq surged 1.69% powered by a buying interest in chip makers. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.61% and S&P 500 index rose 1.14%.

Report suggests that Saudi Arabia has found alternative ways to deliver some crude shipments to Asian buyers via Oman which have helped ease fears of a more severe supply disruption from the closure of a key pipeline after Houthi attacks on it.

Back home, buying was visible across board as all the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), barring the measure of IT stocks, were trading higher led by the NIFTY Realty index's 1.5% gain. NIFTY Media, Pharma, Metal, Auto, Bank Financial Services, Private Bank and Oil & Gas indices also rose between 0.2% and 0.6%.

Broader markets were also witnessing buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.5% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.9%.

Dr Reddy's Labs was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2.08% to ₹1,199. JSW Steel, Eternal, IndiGo, Shriram Finance, Jio Financial Services, Hindalco, Ultratech Cement, Apollo Hospitals and HDFC Bank also rose between 0.85% and 1.8%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors PV, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro, NTPC and Coal India were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,177 shares were advancing while 803 were declining on the NSE.