Sensex surges 400 points; Nifty below 11,000 at opening

Equity benchmark Sensex opened on a strong note and surged nearly 400 points in early trade on Friday as investor sentiments improved amid positive leads from Asian markets and overnight gains on the Wall Street.

The 30-share index was trading 395.08 points or 1.08 per cent higher at 36,948.68, and the NSE Nifty climbed 121.50 points or 1.12 per cent to 10,927.05.

All Sensex components were trading higher with IndusInd Bank, M&M, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Maruti, Tata Steel and Axis Bank gaining up to 3.22 per cent.

In the previous session, the BSE index plummeted 1,114.82 points or 2.96 per cent to finish at 36,553.60, and the NSE Nifty tanked 326.30 points or 2.93 per cent to close at 10,805.55.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,885.69 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed.

Brokers said a firming trend in Asia accelerated buying activity in the domestic market. Asian markets were mostly trading higher following firm cues from Wall Street.

Stock exchanges in the US closed higher in the overnight session following strong housing data and fresh stimulus talks.

Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul were trading in green in mid-day deals tracking gains in the US market, while Shanghai was in the red.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.36 per cent up at $42.11 per barrel.