Domestic markets open in green, Sensex rises over 200 points

Domestic equity markets on Thursday opened positive following a marked improvement in global cues.

At around 9:35 am, Sensex was trading above 100 points while Nifty rose above 9,200. Energy, banking and IT stocks performed well in early trade. By 9:55 am, Sensex extended gains and was trading higher by over 200 points.

ONGC emerged as the top gainer after it surged almost 5 per cent; Tata Steel, TCS, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and L&T were some of the other top gainers.

Meanwhile, Titan, M&M, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel were among some of the losers in morning trade.

However, the good news is that the India VIX volatility index has fallen by five per cent and it seems markets will not see drastic swings throughout the entire trading session.

While heavy selloffs continue, reports of another fresh stimulus package gave hope to investors on D-Street. The government is expected to announce a Rs 20,000 crore relief package to help the distressed MSMEs.

In the previous session, markets got a huge boost from a surge in Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) shares, which jumped over 8 per cent after Facebook acquired stakes in its wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance Jio.

Sensex ended the trading session 742.84 points higher at 31,379.55 yesterday, while Nifty surged 205.85 points to finish the day at 9,187.30.

Domestic markets opened on a positive note as global stocks rose after a recovery in crude prices, traders said.

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

On Wall Street, key indices recovered up to 2 per cent in the overnight session.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 3.16 per cent to USD 21.02 per barrel.

However, traders said concerns over COVID-19 pandemic kept investors cautious. The death toll due to the pandemic rose to 681, while the number of cases in the country climbed to 21,393.

Global tally of the infections has crossed 26 lakh, with over 1.83 lakh deaths.

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