Sensex spikes over 400 pts in early trade; HDFC Bank jumps 4 pc

Mumbai, Apr 20 (PTI) Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 400 points in opening trade on Monday led by gains in index heavyweights HDFC twins and Infosys amid positive cues from global markets.

After hitting a high of 32,056.47, the 30-share index pared some gains to trade 113.59 points or 0.36 per cent higher at 31,702.31.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty was quoting 32.60 points, or 0.35 per cent, up at 9,299.35.

HDFC Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, after the lender posted a 15.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 7,280.22 crore for the March quarter on healthy interest income.

Infosys jumped over 3 per cent ahead of its quarterly earnings, scheduled to be announced later in the day.

Kotak Bank, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and TCS were also trading in the green.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, NTPC, IndusInd Bank and ITC were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer ended 986.11 points or 3.22 per cent higher at 31,588.72, while the Nifty zoomed 273.95 points, or 3.03 per cent, to finish at 9,266.75.

Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday, as they offloaded equity shares worth Rs 1,391.98 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

According to traders, stock-specific action in index heavyweights kept benchmarks positive. Market sentiment was also tracking rise in most global peers.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains in early deals, while Tokyo was in the red.

However, caution remained as concerns over Covid-19 kept investors jittery, traders said.

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 543, while the number of cases in the country climbed to 17,265.

Global tally of the infections has crossed 24 lakh, with over 1.65 lakh deaths.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.85 per cent to USD 27.84 per barrel.