Indian equity benchmarks -- Sensex and Nifty50 -- began Thursday's session with a band tracking gains across global markets as crude oil prices eased from their recent peaks. Gains across sectors pushed the headline indices higher, with financial, auto and IT shares being the biggest movers.

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Investors globally looked optimistic on the resumption of diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine, as the invasion entered a 15th day.

The 30-scrip index opened with a gain of 1,595.1 points or 2.9 percent at 56,242.5 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark began the day at 16,757.1, up 411.8 points or 2.5 percent from its previous close. Both benchmarks trimmed opening gains in the first 15 minutes of trade.

Results of Assembly elections in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa -- took the centrestage on Dalal Street as counting of votes was underway. The outcome of the state polls is likely to set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

At 9:30 am, the Sensex was left with a gain of 1,085.6 points at 55,732.9 and the Nifty50 was at 16,661, up 315.6 points from its previous close.

Among blue-chip stocks, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Grasim, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, SBI and Hindustan Unilever -- up between 3.2 percent and 6.3 percent -- were the top gainers. On the other hand, only four stocks in the Nifty50 universe were in the red: Coal India, ONGC, Hindalco and ITC -- down 0.2-3 percent.

ICICI Bank, the HDFC twins and Reliance Industries were the biggest contributors to the gain in headline indices.

"Relentless selling by FPIs is not having much of an impact on the market now.

A short squeeze in an oversold market can cause sudden reversal in trends," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Broader markets mirrored gains in the main indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index rising 1.5 percent. Its smallcap counterpart was up 1.9 percent.

In the midcap and smallcap segments, Essel Propack, Vaibhav Global, JK Cement, IOC Chemicals and Nocil -- up 6-11.3 percent -- were the top gainers. Oil India, Nalco, KEI Industries and TCNS Clothing, down up to 1.8 percent, were the top losers.

Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment told CNBC-TV18 the market is likely to see solid fund flows going forward. A recovery in the economy appears to be gaining momentum, he said.

He believes high quality banking stocks present an excellent opportunity to investors at the current juncture, and continues to like stocks such as Asian Paints and Astral.

Global markets

Equities in other Asian markets clocked strong gains after days of weakness as Brent crude retreated nearly 15 percent from its previous day's high of $132 a barrel. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.3 percent at the last count. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 3.4 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.8 percent each.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent in early hours. On Wednesday, the three main Wall Street indices finished 2-3.6 percent higher, led by strength in financial and tech shares.

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First Published:Mar 10, 2022 9:24 AM IST