Sensex, Nifty Surge: Global Rally Boosts Indian Markets

Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged in early trade on Friday following a sharp rally in global markets along with buying in IT stocks and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 805.96 points to 79,911.84 in early trade. The NSE Nifty surged 252.05 points to 24,395.80.

All the 30 Sensex firms were trading higher in early trade. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, Infosys and IndusInd Bank were the biggest gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading significantly higher.

The US markets ended with sharp gains on Thursday.

"Globally stock markets have turned around smartly from the August 5th sell off triggered by US recession fears and the unwinding of the yen carry trade. Latest data on US inflation and unemployment relief do not indicate an economy tipping into recession. On the other hand, the 2.9% annual inflation number and slightly softening labour markets set the stage for a Fed rate cut in September, which the market is pencilling in now," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,595.27 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were buyers as they bought equities worth Rs 2,236.21 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.25 per cent to USD 80.84 a barrel.

"Traders are likely to adopt a risk-on approach, driven by strong cues from Wall Street, the expectation of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September, and robust US retail sales figures, which have eased recession concerns," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The Indian stock markets were closed on Thursday on account of Independence Day.

The BSE benchmark climbed 149.85 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 79,105.88 on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty ended marginally up by 4.75 points or 0.02 per cent at 24,143.75.