Sensex surges 470 pts to reclaim 60,000 level in early trade

The BSE gauge Sensex soared 470 points to trade above the psychological 60,000-level in opening deals on Monday on account of buying across counters.

Starting on a positive note, the 30-share benchmark hit the early high of 60,242 before easing out some gains. It was last quoted at 60,077.67, higher by 333.02 points or 0.56 per cent.

Likewise, the NSE Nifty was trading 126.95 points or 0.71 per cent higher at 17,939.65.

The Sensex was primarily driven by FMCG, auto, IT and financial shares. ITC, Maruti, TCS, Kotak Bank and ICICI Bank were the prominent gainers.

Of the Sensex constituents, 21 shares were trading in the green.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, ”The record-high inflation of 5 per cent in the Eurozone, following the inflation trends in the US, is emerging as a major challenge to central banks globally. There is now a clear possibility of three rate hikes by the Fed in 2022 with ECB and other leading central banks, including in emerging markets, shifting to tightening mode.” The appreciation in US 10-year yield to 1.76 per cent and strengthening US dollar are indicative of the headwinds to equity markets, he added.

He further said that the Q3 results starting this week from the IT majors and HDFC Bank are likely to set the trend for the crucial IT and banking segments.

Elsewhere in Asia, the bourses were trading mixed ahead of the US inflation data.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market, as they bought shares worth Rs 496.27 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.