Sensex reclaims 79,000-level; Nifty tops 24,000

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged in early trade on Monday driven by buying in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank post their earnings announcement and continuous foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 599.66 points to 79,152.86 in early trade. The NSE Nifty climbed 152.55 points to 24,004.20.

From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India and IndusInd Bank were the biggest gainers.

Adani Ports, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Hindustan Unilever and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.

PSU Watch is now on Whatsapp Channels. Click here to join

HDFC Bank's stock quoted over 1 percent higher after the firm reported a 7 percent growth in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter to Rs 18,835 crore, but flagged issues around pricing in home and corporate loan segments which are impacting its loan growth.

ICICI Bank traded nearly 1 percent up after the company reported a 15.7 percent jump in March quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 13,502 crore.

India's second-largest IT company Infosys traded over 1 percent higher even after the firm reported an 11.7 percent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 7,033 crore for the March quarter mainly on account of compensation to employees, and acquisitions during the reported period.

"Even though the global economic scenario is mired in uncertainty, India appears relatively resilient. India is the only large economy which can grow at 6 percent even in a slowing global economy. This, along with the declining dollar, has the potential to attract more FPI inflows into India in the short run.

"The Q4 results of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have the potential to take Bank Nifty to an all-time high," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,667.94 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Shanghai SSE Composite index traded in the positive territory while South Korea's Kospi index and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 traded lower.

US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.

Stock markets were closed on Friday for 'Good Friday'.

"As we begin a new week, market sentiment turns optimistic with FIIs emerging as net buyers last week, boosting confidence for a bullish Nifty start," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.52 percent to USD 66.93 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 1,508.91 points or 1.96 percent to settle at 78,553.20 on Thursday. The Nifty surged 414.45 points or 1.77 percent to 23,851.65.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)