Sensex rises 450 points, Nifty tops 22,550 on upbeat global market cues

Indian benchmark equity indices opened higher on Monday, tracking upbeat sentiment in Asian peers, after softer-than-expected U.S. jobs data renewed bets that the Federal Reserve would likely ease rates this year.

The BSE Sensex was trading 450 points or 0.61% higher at 74,327. Nifty50 was trading at 22,561 , up 86 points or 0.38%.

The Labor Department’s employment report showed the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected, while the unemployment rate ticked higher and wage growth unexpectedly cooled.

Among the Sensex components, Kotak Mahindra Bank emerged as the top performer, surging 4% after the bank reported an 18.22% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its standalone profit for Q4 FY24 to Rs 4,133.30 crore. Additionally, its net interest income (NII) for the same quarter increased by 13% YoY to Rs 6,909 crore.

JSW Steel, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, and Maruti Suzuki began the day on a positive note, while Titan, SBI, Power Grid, L&T, and Asian Paints started trading in the red.

Among individual stocks, Paytm fell 5% after Bhavesh Gupta, Chief Operating Officer and President of One 97 Communications (OCL), resigned from the fintech firm.

Britannia Industries shares gained 4% after the biscuit maker beat the fourth-quarter profit estimate post market hours on Friday.

On the sectoral front, Nifty IT surged 0.7% and Nifty Bank rose 0.4%. Nifty Auto, FMCG, Realty, and Healthcare also opened higher. Conversely, Nifty PSU Bank fell over 3%.