Sensex opens in green, Nifty tops 14,500

MUMBAI: The Indian benchmark indices today rebounded around 1 per cent on the heels of the Centre's decision to expand the vaccination drive to all above the age of 18 from May 1. The government's decision to waive off customs duty on vaccine imports also helped the stocks to regain yesterday's losses.

At 12.14 pm, the BSE Sensex was at 48,046.38, and the NSE Nifty was at 14,397,00 points.

Bajaj Finance, Dr Reddy's, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bajaj Finserv gained 3 per cent, each, and were the top Sensex gainers.

In the broader markets, which outperformed their large-cap counterparts, the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index traded 1.7 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. All the BSE sectoral indices traded in the green, with the exception of the IT space.

Asian markets showed mixed response on Tuesday morning as investors were awaiting the release of China's latest benchmark lending rate. Stocks in Japan led to losses among the region's major markets, with the Nikkei 225 falling 1.31 per cent, while the Topix index shed 1.22 per cent. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.11 per cent, but the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.14 per cent.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, slipping from last week's record levels, as investors awaited guidance from first-quarter earnings to justify high valuations, while Tesla Inc shares fell after a fatal car crash. The Dow Jones fell 0.36 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.53 per cent and Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.98 per cent.

Oil prices edged higher on Monday supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, but gains were stopped by concerns about the impact on demand from surging coronavirus infections in India.

Brent crude settled up 28 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $67.05 a barrel, after rising 6 per cent last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. oil ended the session up 25 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $63.38 a barrel, having gained 6.4 per cent last week.