Sensex rises 500 pts, Nifty tops 17,450; Adani group shares rally up to 9%, PSB stocks jump up to 8%

Domestic equity markets opened sharply higher at open on Friday, thanks to firm global cues. Lesser aggressive commentary from the US Federal Reserve official boosted the morale of markets. Eased US-bond yields supported the markets' sentiments. Back home, GQG partners poured more than Rs 15,000 crore in Adani Group stocks which boosted the morale of traders. Respite for baking stocks, particularly state-run lenders, pushed the markets higher. At 9.25 am, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex was trading 493 points, or 0.84 per cent, higher at 59,402.43. NSE's Nifty50 jumped 142.35 points or 0.82 per cent to trade at 17,464.25 at the same time. BSE midcap and smallcap rose half a per cent, each, but underperformed the headline peers. Fear gauge India VIX dropped about 7 per cent to 12.12-level. Investors are likely to remain positive & look for bargain buy opportunities and also reacting to the results of assembly elections. The lack of follow through strength above Wednesday’s bull candle signifies prolonged consolidation amid oversold conditions, said ICICIDirect Research. "A decisive close to the current week’s high of 17,460 would confirm a pause in downward momentum and gradually accelerate upward momentum towards 17,800 in the coming week. Thus, any dip from here on should be capitalised to accumulate quality stock as we expect the index to hold key support of 17,200 amid bouts of global volatility," it said. All the sectors of Nifty were trading higher during the early trading session. Nifty PSU Bank index surged about 4 per cent, whereas Nifty Metal index rallied about 2 per cent. Nifty FMCG, IT, Financial Services and Private Bank indices rose about a per cent, each. Adani Enterprises jumped 10 per cent, whereas Adani Ports jumped 7 per cent at open, leading the gainers in the Nifty50 pack. Among other blue-chip counters from the index, State Bank of India jumped 5 per cent, whereas Power Grid rose 2 per cent. On the contrary, Dr Reddy's Labs was the sole loser. Other Adani Group stocks including Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission, Adani Wilmar and NDTV hit an upper circuit of 5 per cent, each. Ambuja Cements and ACC gained up to 3 per cent each in the early trade. The US-based investment firm GQG partners investing Rs 15,446 crores in four Adani stocks might influence the market positively. This money is mainly to be used for retiring debt, which means that the banks that had funded Adani companies will not face any stress, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. "The market will continue to be under pressure from FII selling which yesterday was Rs 2,676 crores excluding the GQG bulk buying of Adani stocks. The US 10-year yield has moved above 4 per cent. FIIs can be expected to sell more since this risk-free return is quite attractive considering the muted expectations from the equity markets in the short term," he said. Among the public sector banks, Punjab and Sind Bank rose 8 percent. Uco Bank rallied 6 per cent, whereas Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, and Bank of India jumped 5 per cent each. Central Bank and Bank of Baroda were up 4 per cent, each. In the broader markets, Monarch Networth Capital jumped 7 per cent, whereas Primo Industries gained 6 per cent. Kiri Industries, NACL Industries surged 6 per cent, each. Among the losers, Brightcom Group and Lodha Developers shed up to 3 per cent, each.