Opening bell: Benchmark indices trade higher; broader markets gain almost 1%

Markets begin the day on a positive note, following global cues.

Early in the session, the key equity barometers are trading with small gains, mirroring strong Asian stocks. As the market recovered from a recent selloff, Asian equities and US stock futures were seen going up, but fears remain that aggressive central bank rate hikes to tackle inflation might spark a global recession. The media, metal, and consumer durables sectoral indexes all rose, with media, metal, and consumer durables gaining the most.

At 9:43 AM, the Sensex jumped by 374 points and is trading at 51,972.39 levels. BSE MidCap likewise, climbed by 214 points and is trading at 21,213.02 levels, BSE SmallCap has too gained 276 points and is trading at 25,698.27 levels. The stocks trading in green on the BSE Sensex are Titan, Infosys, Dr Reddy Laboratories, Wipro, and Tata Steel.

The Nifty 50 index similarly soared by 120 points and is now trading at 15,470.25 levels. Bank Nifty climbed by 244 points to trade at 33,929.75 levels. The top indices gainers on Nifty 50 are Consumer Durables, Information technology, and Media. There are no sectors in red today.

On the BSE, the outlook is positive as out of 2,824 stocks, 2,028 stocks advanced and only 704 stocks have declined in the morning session. Whereas, there are 73 stocks locked up in the upper circuit and 172 stocks are locked in the lower circuit today, also 20 stocks are trading at a 52-week high and there are 116 stocks that are trading at a 52-week low.

The Nikkei (+1.76 %) average in Japan leads the market with a gain of nearly 2%. The Hang Seng Index (+1.15 %) in Hong Kong was trading with an almost 1% increase. Traders concentrated on limited supply rather than decreasing global economic growth, which drove up oil prices. Crude oil in the United States was up 1.99% to USD 110.14 a barrel, while Brent was up 1.14% to USD 115.27 per barrel.