SENSEX surges over 900 points, NIFTY50 above 22,900; Here are key things to know

The Indian equity benchmarks extended gains after staging a gap up opening on Thursday, October 15, defying weak cues from global markets as a combination of factors lifted investor sentiment towards equities.

Sentiment turned positive after Jio Platforms announced dates for the country's biggest share sale via initial public offering (IPO), drop in crude prices and contra AI trade, that is a decline in tech shares in South Korea and buying in Indian IT companies also added to the positive sentiment on the street, analysts noted.

The SENSEX soared as much as 1,016 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 22,920 0 led by gains in index heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and HCL Tech.

As of 10:20 am, the SENSEX was up 925 points at 73,707 and NIFTY50 index advanced 271 points to 22,895.

Jio Platforms IPO improves sentiment

Analysts said that sentiment turned positive after Jio Platforms, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, announced dates for its much-awaited IPO. The country's biggest IPO will open for subscription on October 21 and close on October 23, RIL said.

The company has fixed price band ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 per share and retail investors can apply for a minimum of 12 shares and in multiples thereafter.

The company has announced a discount of ₹54 per share for eligible employees bidding under the reserved quota.

The IPO consists of a reservation of equity shares of Jio Platforms for a value not exceeding ₹500 crore for subscription by the eligible employees.

Following the announcement of Jio IPO date, Reliance Industries shares rose as much as 2.2% to an intraday high of ₹1,201.75. Reliance Industries alone contributed 137 points towards the SENSEX, data from BSE showed.

Global market update

Asian markets were trading sharply lower as selloff in tech shares deepened after higher-than-expected CPI inflation data renewed bets of Fed rate hike going ahead.

South Korea's KOSPI dropped 7.08%, Japan's Nikkei tumbled 4.33%, China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.52% and Hing Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 0.92%.

Overnight, US stocks ended sharply lower tracking inflation data. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.09%, S&P 500 index dropped 1.11% and tech heavy Nasdaq index plunged 1.88%.

IT leads sectoral indices

12 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading higher led by the NIFTY IT index's 2.22% gain. Indian IT stocks came under buying interest as contra AI trend played out after tech shares in United States, South Korea and Taiwan came under selling pressure, analysts noted.

NIFTY Financial Services, Auto, FMCG, Private Bank, Realty, Healthcare and Bank indices also surged between 0.5% and 1.3%.

On the other hand, PSU bank, consumer durables, oil & gas, metal, media and pharma shares were facing selling pressure.

Broader markets were underperforming their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 0.28% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index fell 0.64%.

Among the individual shares, IDBI Bank dropped 6.35% to an intraday low of ₹84.70 as Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings will acquire a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank for about ₹53,000 crore, in what would be the largest foreign investment in an Indian bank and a major milestone in the country's long-delayed banking privatisation drive.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Fairfax subsidiary M/s 10955230 Canada Inc as the strategic buyer for the government's 30.48% stake (for about ₹26,620 crore) and state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) 30.24% stake (for about ₹26,440 crore).

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa-led Fairfax will pay ₹81 per share, higher than the benchmark fair value of ₹75.99 determined by two independent valuation agencies, an official statement said.

NIFTY50 top gainers and losers

Tech Mahindra was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock surged 2.96% to ₹1,622. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, Max Healthcare, Tata Consumer Products and ITC also rose between 1% and 2.5%.

On the flip side, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco, ONGC, Trent, Bharat Electronics, Shriram Finance, Adani Ports, Nestle India and Bajaj Finserv were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,881 shares were declining while 1,105 were advancing on the NSE.