Sensex rises 500 points on firm global cues; Nifty tops 11,000

NEW DELHI: Domestic equity indices opened higher on Tuesday, in-line with global peers, as investors flocked to grab stocks at low levels after four straight sessions of fall. Improved macro data from the US also lifted the mood on Dalal Street.

An industry gauge released overnight indicated US manufacturing activity expanded in July at the fastest pace in more than a year, which helped Wall Street shares rise on Monday.

The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended gains as the session progressed, led by rally in index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries. Sensex surged 490 points to 37.430 while NSE Nifty added 136 points to 11,027. HDFC Bank and RIL rose 5 and 3 per cent, respectively.

Shares of the lender surged after reports that the RBI has approved the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan as HDFC Bank CEO. Jagdishan will succeed fabled banker Aditya Puri.

HDFC, ICICI Bank and ONGC were among other gainers in the Sensex pack.

IndusInd Bank was the biggest loser in the pack, down 1.59 per cent at Rs 495.20, followed by PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and TCS that were other stocks trading in the red, down up to 2 per cent.

Broader market indices were faring in line with their headline peers as Nifty Smallcap added 0.90 per cent while Nifty Midcap climbed 0.80 per cent. Broadest index on NSE, Nifty500 was up 0.52 per cent.

Barring Nifty IT, which dipped 0.04 per cent, all sectoral indices on NSE were trading with gains. Nifty Media was the biggest gainer, up 2.01 per cent, followed by Nifty Auto and Nifty Pharma that gained about a per cent each.

Globally, Asian shares rose on Tuesday after strong U.S. manufacturing data and gains in tech stocks helped investors look past broader worries about the coronavirus and global economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.9 per cent, while shares in China nudged up 0.1 per cent. Australian stocks gained 2 per cent for the biggest intraday gain since July 21. Tokyo shares also jumped by more than 1 per cent.

Oil futures gave up their overnight gains and fell in Asia due to nagging worries about an increase in the supply of crude. U.S. stock futures were 0.02 per cent higher in Asia.