Sensex Rallies Over 500 Points; Tata Steel, Infosys, HDFC Bank Top Gainers

The domestic stock markets have opened at a fresh record highs, building on the momentum witnessed in the previous week, thanks to strength in index heavyweights such as Tata Steel, Infosys and HDFC Bank. At 9:18 am, the Sensex is at 61,653.50, higher by 360 points or 0.56 per cent and the Nifty is at 18,458.75, up 120 points or 0.67 per cent. The broader markets are also trading on a strong footing, with the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index gaining 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

On Saturday, HDFC Bank reported a net profit of Rs 8,834.3 crore the July-September quarter, an increase of 17.58 per cent from Rs 7,513.1 crore during the same period last year. The bank's total income stood at Rs 38,754 crore during the quarter, compared to Rs 36,069 crore in the year-ago period.

In the global markets, US stocks rose on Friday and the Dow scored its biggest weekly percentage gain since June, as Goldman Sachs rounded out a week of strong quarterly earnings for the big banks. Goldman Sachs Group shares jumped 3.8 per cent and gave the Dow its biggest boost, as a record wave of deal-making activity drove a surge in the bank's quarterly profit.

The Dow Jones rose 1.09 per cent to 35,294.76, the S&P 500 gained 0.75 per cent and Nasdaq Composite added 0.5 per cent.

Asian shares were on edge on Monday morning ahead of the release of Chinese economic data for the third quarter, as investors fret about the health of the world's second-largest economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trading on Monday, while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.12 per cent.

On the earnings front, UltraTech Cement, L&T Infotech and Alok Industries will declare their results during the day.

On the stock-specific front, Tata Steel, Infosys and HDFC Bank are the top stock gainers on the BSE, adding 1-2 per cent each on the BSE. Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank and ITC are the other significant gainers in the BSE pack.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's and Bajaj Auto are trading with losses of around half a per cent each on the BSE. 

The BSE market breadth is strong. Out of 2,838 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,928 advancing shares as against 771  declines.