Sensex jumps over 450 points: 4 key factors behind the bull run on Dalal Street

Here's what led to the sharp upward move in the benchmark indices today:

• Buying in banks

Axis Bank emerged as the primary driver of Thursday's market rally, soaring over 6% following robust quarterly earnings. Joining the upward momentum were other major contributors such as and . The Nifty Bank index surged by over 300 points, closing at 48,494.95.

• Global Markets

While Japan's Nikkei fell sharply on Thursday amid yen wallowing at a fresh three-decade low above 155 per dollar, the other major Asian indices traded in the green. China's Shanghai Composite closed higher by 0.30% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also gained by nearly half a percentage point. Markets in Bangkok and Manila also edged up.

Among major European markets, the UK's FTSE 100 was higher by 48.33 points or 0.6% and traded at 8,088.7 around this time.

• Monthly Expiry

Thursday is also the day of monthly expiry and the May series begins on Friday. Investors tend to square off positions ahead of expiry.

According to the derivatives data analysed by SBI Securities, for April monthly series, 22,400 call has significant open interest, followed by 22,500 strikes. On the put side, 22,400 has significant open interest, followed by 22,300 strike implying the zone of 22,330-22,300 will act as immediate support for the index. On the upside, the level of 22,445 will act as immediate resistance for the index. The brokerage had predicted that any sustainable move above the level of 22,445 would lead to further a upside rally in the index.

• Decline in Oil Prices

Oil prices eased on Thursday as concerns about a potential slowdown in the US economy amid prospects for delayed interest rate cuts outweighed worries over the risk of expanding conflict in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures dipped 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $87.96 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 11 cents, or 0.13%, to $82.7 a barrel. Both benchmarks lost less than 1% on Wednesday.

Dollar Index

The dollar index was down 0.2% at 105.6, while Asian currencies slipped, pressured by an uptick in US bond yields.

Meanwhile, the rupee ended largely unchanged on Thursday, wedged between a decline in most of its Asian peers and interbank dollar sales after the local unit managed to hold above a key support level. The rupee closed at 83.3150 against the US dollar, barely changed from its close of 83.3225 in the previous session.