After opening the day higher, Indian share markets extended gains as the session progressed and ended near the day's high.

Benchmark indices rose for a second consecutive session as heavy buying in index heavyweight stocks improved sentiment.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex rallied 1,345 points, ending 2.5% higher.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty zoomed 417 points, ending at 16,259.

Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, and ITC were among the top gainers today. All stocks from the Sensex ended in green.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) was listed on the exchanges at Rs 865 per share, which is a discount of 9% over issue price. The stock ended its first trading day at Rs 872 apiece on BSE.

With its listing today, LIC became the fifth-largest company in India valued at over Rs 6 tn.

The broader markets ended higher as the BSE Mid Cap index surged 2.5% while the BSE Small Cap index jumped 2.8%.

All sectoral indices ended on a firm note with stocks in the metal sector and energy sector witnessing most of the buying.

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets extended gains and ended on a positive note despite a lower finish on Wall Street.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose by 0.4%, while the Hang Seng jumped 3.1%. The shanghai composite added 0.7%.

The SGX Nifty was trading 2.7% higher at the time of writing.

The rupee is trading at 77.54 against the US$.

Gold prices are currently trading up 0.2% at Rs 50,351 per 10 grams while silver is up 0.6% at Rs 61,307 per kg.

Here are four factors why markets surged today:

Hopes of revival: Cues of China relaxing Covid lockdowns in the near term boosted investor confidence. The world's largest consumer is set to relax norms starting June 2022.

Sectoral check: All sectoral indices ended in green. Metal stocks witnessed heavy buying with the Nifty metal index ending over 6.5% higher.

LIC listing: The subdued listing of LIC was in-line with expectations in context to the drop in market dynamics from the opening of the IPO to the listing date.

Refunds to investors, who could not get shares in the allotment process, were made last week on 13 May. It appears they may have diverted part of their capital to equity markets.

Heavyweight stocks rally: Index heavyweight stocks Reliance, ICICI Bank, ITC, Infosys, and Tata Steel among others saw huge buying today.

In news from the automobile sector, Hyundai Motor has partnered with Tata Power for building an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in India.

The association will make Tata Power and Hyundai Motor key contributors toward the expansion and accelerated adoption of EVs across India.

Under the partnership, Tata Power will install fast chargers at Hyundai's existing 34 EV dealer locations across 29 cities along with supply, installation, and commissioning of home charging for the company's EV customers.

This new collaboration, will greatly benefit the consumers and enhance customer convenience as the charging time will be reduced significantly.

Commenting on the strategic partnership, Tata Power's CEO and managing director, Dr Praveer Sinha said:

Our collaboration with Hyundai Motor India aligns with the Government of India's National Electric Mobility Mission Plan and demonstrates our commitment to leading India's clean energy and net-zero goals.

Tata Power's expertise in EV charging space coupled with comprehensive charging solutions and countrywide ownership of Hyundai vehicles, will help in the development of sustainable mobility infrastructure, boosting faster EV adoption.

The charging stations at Hyundai's dealership will be open for all-electric vehicle customers.

Speaking of EVs, have a look at the chart below which shows the massive opportunity for the two-wheeler EVs.

Moving on, India's wholesale inflation in April 2022 has surged to a three-decade high reaching 15.08%.

As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, the wholesale prices rose 15.08% in April while the wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 14.55% in March.

High commodity prices amid supply-chain disruptions due to the geopolitical crisis have pushed up the input costs for producers resulting in record inflation.

Fuel prices, a big component of the increase, were up 38.7% on the year versus 34.5% in March.

This is the 13th straight month that the country has witnessed double-digit inflation. Nearly all components of the WPI have contributed to this high inflation.

Data released earlier this month showed that India's retail inflation galloped to 7.79% in April, the fastest pace in eight years.

The high inflation print will put further pressure on the central bank to act on rates and further tighten monetary policy.

In a bid to tame inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a surprise rate hike earlier this month.

In the next monetary policy due in June, it is expected to raise rates further and also revise its 5.7% inflation forecast.

Moving on to developments from the commodities space, the Central Government has announced some relaxation to its order dated 13 May on restricting wheat exports.

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry said that wherever wheat consignments have been handed over to Customs for examination and registered into their systems on or before 13 May, such consignments would be allowed for export.

Last week, India said it was suspending exports of wheat to manage its food security which is at risk.

The Centre has also allowed a wheat consignment headed for Egypt, which was already under loading at the Kandla port. This followed a request by the Egyptian government to permit the wheat cargo to be loaded at the Kandla port.

The government has kept a window open for overseas sales should a foreign neighbouring government make a request.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments in this space. Stay tuned.