Sensex Surges In Openings Trade, Banking Stocks Lead

Benchmark indices surged in trade, led by solid gains in banking stocks. The gains game despite a weakish trend from the Asian markets. The Sensex was trading with gains of 654 points, while the Nifty was up 194 points in trade.

Banking stocks were leading the set of gainers with Bandhan Bank gaining more than 5 per cent, while ICICI Bank was up more than 4 per cent in trade. Most of the Asian markets were trading sharply higher. Heavyweights, HDFC and HDFC Bank were both contributing to the sharp gains. Pharma stocks were seeing some good gains with Cipla surging 10 per cent, while Sun Pharma was up more than 5 per cent.

Among the Nifty stocks that saw some losses was Adani Ports, which was marginally down in trade. The midcap and the small cap also followed the benchmark indices higher with gains of nearly 2 per cent.

Future Retail was locked at the lower end of the circuit filter once again, with the stock seeing a 5 per cent loss once again. It also hit a 52-week low in the process.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets were trading mixed. The Hong Kong's Hang Sang was up marginally, while the Japanese Nikkei was trading with marginal losses.

Investors are exercised caution as markets could be increasingly volatile in the coming days.