Sensex rises 500 points, Nifty above 9,450 as banks, autos gain

The domestic stock markets were trading over one per cent higher on Thursday, lifted by rally in financials for second straight day, ahead of the expiry of futures and options contracts of May series. 

At 1:30 pm, Sensex was up 571.26 points or 1.81% at 32176.48, and the Nifty jumped 169.70 points or 1.82% at 9484.65.

Hero MotoCorp and Larsen & Tubro (both up 5%) were the top Sensex gainers. Besides, the HDFC twins also inched 2 per cent higher and contributed majorly to the index's up move.

Gold edged up on after hitting a two-week low in the previous session as the rift between Washington and Beijing over Hong Kong escalated, with prices also supported by the central bank and government largesse to cushion the blow from the pandemic.