Sensex, Nifty rise in initial trade amid rally in U.S. markets; Adani Group continues to nosedive

A screen displaying the Sensex results on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai on February 1, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Equity benchmarks climbed in initial trade on Friday amid a strong rally in the U.S. markets and buying in banking counters.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex rose by 481.94 points to 60,414.18. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 118.05 points to 17,728.45.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, HDFC and State Bank of India were among the major winners.

Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Nestle were among the laggards.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul and Tokyo were trading in the green, while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower.

Markets in the U.S. ended mostly in the positive territory on Thursday.

“The ferocious rally of 3 per cent in Nasdaq yesterday is an indication that the market expects a soft landing of the US economy. IT stocks look strong,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The Sensex had advanced 224.16 points or 0.38% to settle at 59,932.24 on Thursday. However, the Nifty had dipped 5.90 points or 0.03% to end at 17,610.40.

International oil benchmark Brent crude quoted 0.10% lower at $82.17 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) again offloaded shares on Thursday after a day’s breather. They sold shares worth ₹3,065.35 crore, according to exchange data.