The Indian equity benchmarks staged a gap up opening and extended gains on Friday mirroring surge in global markets after US President Joe Biden hit back Thursday against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, unleashing robust new sanctions, ordering the deployment of thousands of additional troops to NATO ally Germany and declaring that America would stand up to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. The Sensex rose as much as 1,654 points and Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 16,700.