Indian equity benchmark Sensex was 703 points (2.2%) higher at 09:18, while the broader Nifty 50 index was +2.26 per cent higher. During the session, the Sensex traded in a range of 256 points, hitting 33133 at day’s high and 32877 at day’s low. Banking, Metal, and Finance stocks led the gains today, while some selling was seen in S&P BSE Telecom stocks.

Among the Sensex stocks, Axis Bank rose 5.3 per cent to be the top performer. Other major gainers included Tata Steel(+4.8%), Indusind Bank(+4.5%), Bajaj Finance(+4.2%), and State Bank of India(+4.1%). Meanwhile Bharti Airtel was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, rising 0.2 per cent.

Among the indices, the BSE BANKEX index rose +3.75 per cent and BSE METAL index rose +3.68 per cent. In comparison, the BSE Telecom index rose +0.32 per cent and BSE Healthcare index rose +0.48 per cent. In the broader markets, the BSE LargeCap index was up 2.37 per cent, the MidCap index was up 1.84 per cent, while the SmallCap index was up 2.05 per cent. Globally, the Nikkei 225 was up +1.18 per cent, the Hang Seng was up +3.33 per cent, and Brent Crude was up 0.21 per cent.

Read EquityPandit’s Nifty Outlook for the Week