SENSEX surges over 450 points, NIFTY50 above 23,350 as crude drops over 2.5%

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a gap up opening on Monday, September 21, mirroring positive trend in Asian markets as investor sentiment got a boost from declining crude prices in global markets.

The SENSEX rose as much as 492 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,408 led by gains in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

As of 9:25 am, the SENSEX was up 413 points at 74,708 and NIFTY50 index advanced 44 points to 23,390.

Asian shares were trading higher powered by gains in tech shares and a drop in crude prices.

Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.4%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.55%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6% and South Korea's KOSPI surged 1.8%.

Brent crude futures dropped as much as 2,5% to an intraday low of $101.22 per barrel on signs of a recovery in Saudi Arabian crude shipments, even as attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis added to tensions in the Middle East and the US and Iran remained locked in a stalemate Times of India reported.

Back home, 12 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading higher led by the NIFTY Pharma index's 1.12% gain. NIFTY Auto, FMCG, Financial Services, Private Bank, Healthcare and Consumer Durables indices also rose between 0.24% and 1.1%.

On the other hand, PSU bank, IT and metal shares were facing selling pressure.

Broader markets trading on a subdued note as NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 0.2% while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.08%.

Sun Pharma was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2.32% to ₹1,880. HDFC Life, NTPC, IndiGo, Hindustan Unilever, SBI Life, Tata Consumer Products, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ITC also rose between 1.4% and 1.7%.

On the flip side, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Wipro, Power Grid, Tata Motors PV, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and Apollo Hospitals were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was marginally positive as 1,742 shares were advancing while 1,354 were declining on the NSE.