New Delhi: Sensex, key equity benchmark, surged 470 points in opening trade on Friday led by gains across all sectors and amid mixed cues from Asian markets.
Though the domestic benchmark indices started on a positive note, caution prevailed among investors amid rising cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The BSE index was trading 470 points higher at 60,047 in early trade. The Nifty, on the other hand, advanced 124 points to 17,887.
Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 0.42 per cent and small-cap shares were trading 0.69 per cent higher.
Barring healthcare stocks, gains across sectors pushed the headline indices higher, led by financial, oil & gas and consumer stocks.
Among the 30-share Sensex, Titan was the top gainer, rising over 3 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Reliance Industries, and HDFC Bank.
On the other hand, HDFC, Infosys, Dr Reddy’s, M&M, and Maruti were among the laggards.
In the previous session, the Sensex slumped 621.31 points to finish at 59,601.84. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty plunged 179.35 points to 17,745.90.
Elsewhere in Asia, exchanges in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was negative.
Stock exchanges in the US ended with losses in the overnight session.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.77 per cent to $82.62 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,926.77 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.