Opening Bell: Benchmark indices start the week on a positive note; metal stocks shine

The previous week was dominated by the bears as many stocks saw aggressive selling pressure in all five trading sessions, due to a less-than-expected fall in US inflation print whereas higher than expected rise in April inflation numbers.

On Friday, US stocks rallied despite worries over inflation, the Ukraine war and the economic outlook. The Nasdaq Composite Index was in the lead, gaining 3.8% settling at 11,805 while Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.5% and the broad-based S&P 500 zoomed 2.4%.

On Monday, Tokyo and Hong Kong market opened higher fueled by a rally among tech-rich stocks. Oil prices dipped erasing earlier gains as investors booked profits after a surge in the previous session, but global supply fears prevailed with the European Union planning to ban imports from Russia.

At the open, the Sensex was up 78.13 points or 0.15% at 52871.75, and the Nifty was up 14.10 points or 0.09% at 15796.30. India VIX moved around 1% higher trading at 23.72 in the initial hour of the trading session. 

Eicher Motors, JSW Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Titan Company and Tata Steel were among the major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were UltraTech Cement, Shree Cements, Tech Mahindra, NTPC and Power Grid Corp. Meanwhile, on Sensex, the gainers were only L&T, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Titan Company and M&M while the losers were Ultratech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Bharati Airtel, Nestle India and NTPC.

In the broader markets, at 9.50 am BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices traded higher, being almost 1% up. On the sectoral front, indices traded in green where most of the indices gained 1% whereas the BSE Metal Index shined as it traded 2.29% higher. The top metal stocks lifting the index comprised JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, APL Apollo Tubes and SAIL.