Opening Bell: Nifty comes within inches of 17,000, Sensex up over 100 pts; PowerGrid, Apollo Hospitals, Hindalco top blue-chip gainers

Opening Bell: Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty started Monday's session on a positive note amid mixed moves across global peers, as optimism about resilience of the banking sector following the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse crisis was offset by the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates. The Indian share market entered a four-day trading week owing to the Ram Navami holiday on Thursday.

The Sensex rose as much as 137.6 points or 0.2 per cent to 57,664.7 within the first few minutes of trade, and the Nifty50 climbed to as high as as 16,991.1, adding 46.1 points to its previous close. 

As many as 29 stocks were advancing and 19 were declining in the Nifty50 basket the early deals. PowerGrid, Hindalco, Apollo Hospitals, ONGC and Bajaj Finance were among the top gainers, rising around 1-2 per cent each.

On the contrary, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Eicher Motors, Titan, ITC and Bajaj Auto were the top blue-chip laggards, falling up to two per cent.

The Nifty Bank — whose 12 constituents include the country's largest lenders SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank — turned flat near 39,400 amid choppy trade, having moved within a narrow range around the flatline in early trade. 

EDITOR'S TAKE | Anil Singhvi expects a strong buy zone for Nifty50 in 16,825-16,925 band

Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi expects support for the banking index emerging at 39,300-39,400 levels, and a strong buy zone in the 39,050-39,150 band. Read more on how Anil Singhvi views the market today and what he recommends

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