Mumbai, February 23 The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened on a positive note on Monday, driven by strong buying in banking and service stocks, mirroring a rally in Asian markets.
Analysts said the global sentiment was shaped by the US Supreme Court's ruling that invalidated the Trump tariffs, deeming them "illegal," a move that could significantly alter global trade dynamics.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 572.10 points, or 0.69 percent, to 83,386.81 in the early trading session. The 50-share NSE Nifty advanced by 190.65 points, or 0.75 percent, to 25,761.90.
Among the Sensex constituents, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, and PowerGrid were the major gainers.
Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, IndiGo, and NTPC were trading in the negative.
"The Trump tariff saga has become murkier after the US Supreme Court declared the tariffs illegal. The Supreme Court's judgment is indeed a landmark decision that will seriously impact Trump's strategy of using tariffs as a weapon," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
He noted that even the new 15 percent global tariff imposed under Section 122 will be challenged in court, and the probability of this decision being overturned is high, as Section 122 allows the US president to impose tariffs to address a serious balance of payments crisis, which the US does not currently face.
"India has already delayed the visit of its trade negotiating team to the US in light of the changed scenario. This is a welcome move."
"From the market perspective, the US Supreme Court's decision is indeed positive, but this is not sufficient to trigger a sustained rally in the market. The market will only see a temporary relief rally, which is unlikely to sustain. The market will respond only to the fundamentals, which are fortunately improving," Vijayakumar said.
The broader Asian markets were trading higher, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark surging over 2 percent, while South Korea's Kospi went up nearly 1 percent.
Markets in Japan and mainland China remained closed due to holidays.
The US equity market ended higher on Friday.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined by 1.07 percent to USD 70.99 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 934.61 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors outperformed FIIs by purchasing stocks worth Rs 2,637.15 crore, according to exchange data.
On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 316.57 points to settle at 82,814.71, while NSE Nifty advanced by 116.90 points to close at 25,571.25.
