Sensex Surges over 300 Points in Early Trade; Nifty Tops 9,900

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 300 points in early trade on Tuesday, led by index-heavyweights Kotak Bank, HDFC, TCS and Reliance Industries amid positive cues from global markets.

After opening on a tepid note, the 30-share index was trading 309.68 points or 0.93 per cent higher at 33,613.20.

Similarly, NSE Nifty advanced 98.10 points or 1 per cent to 9,924.25.

Kotak Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 7 per cent, followed by M&M, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and HCL Tech.

On the other hand, L&T, ITC, ICICI Bank and SBI were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer settled 879.42 points or 2.57 per cent higher at 33,303.52 and the broader Nifty surged 245.85 points or 2.57 per cent to finish at 9,826.15.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors bought equities worth Rs 1,575.46 crore in the capital market on Monday, provisional exchange data showed.

According to analysts, gradual easing of the lockdown boosted investor sentiment which further strengthened with the buoyancy in the global markets. Besides, the news of the timely arrival of monsoon also aided the surge.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service on Monday downgraded India's sovereign rating to 'Baa3' from 'Baa2', saying there will be challenges in implementation of policies to mitigate risks of a sustained period of low growth and deteriorating fiscal position.

"Even though it is a downgrade, the rating is still in investment grade. This is on par with the rating of S&P and Fitch. This is unlikely to impact the market materially since the strength of the market is largely due to the humongous liquidity floating in the global financial system," said VK Vijayakumar- Chief Investment Strategist- Geojit Financial.

On the global front, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with significant gains, while those in Shanghai slipped in the red.

Exchanges on Wall Street ended on a positive note in overnight trade.

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.81 per cent higher at USD 38.63 per barrel.