Sensex rallies over 500 points in early trade; Nifty tops 15,100

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 500 points in the opening session on Thursday tracking gains in index majors HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys amid massive buying by foreign institutional investors.

A positive trend in global markets also supported the upmove, traders said.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 528.28 points or 1.04 per cent higher at 51,309.97.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty was quoting 161.45 points or 1.08 per cent up at 15,143.45.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, ONGC, Kotak Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys.

On the other hand, Nestle India, Asian Paints, HUL and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex settled 1,030.28 points or 2.07 per cent higher at 50,781.69, and Nifty zoomed 274.20 points or 1.86 per cent to end at 14,982.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth a whopping Rs 28,739.17 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

"In this volatile market, where dips and bounce backs are sharp, the directional trend is upwards. The 'higher highs' and 'higher lows' indicate the long-term bullish trend,? said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The fundamental reason for this trend, which is global, is the abundant liquidity available in the global financial system and the Fed's declared commitment to keep liquidity flowing and maintaining interest rates at historical lows, he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading with significant gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.17 per cent higher at USD 66.29 per barrel.