Following gains from global peers, Indian equity indices opened higher for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, led by banking, auto and IT stocks.
The BSE Sensex was trading 400 points or 0.56% higher at 71,739. Nifty50 was trading at 21,560, up 118 points or 0.55% at around 10:16 am.
From the Sensex pack, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid and Tata Motors were the top gainers, rising over 1% each. JSW Steel, Infosys, Tata Steel, and L&T also opened higher. On the other hand, only HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma opened lower.
Adani Energy Solutions shares rose 4% after the company received a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the acquisition of a special purpose vehicle Halvad Transmission from PFC Consulting.
State-owned SJVN rose 4.4% after the company secured a 100 MW solar power project from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam, to be developed by its unit SJVN Green Energy at a tentative cost of Rs 550 crore.
Sector-wise, Nifty Metal rose 0.64%, and Nifty Nifty IT surged 0.6%. Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, FMCG, Realty, and Pharma also opened higher. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 gained 0.54%, while Smallcap100 rose 0.7%.
Experts Take
“The resilience of the market even in the holiday season, which is normally devoid of much action, is an indication of its underlying bullishness. The global support to the market from the mother market US where the S&P 500 is close to all-time high is significant,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Investors should give priority to high quality bluechips which are doing well and have good earnings visibility. A correction in the broader market is inevitable, Vijayakumar said.
Deven Mehata, Equity Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, “Nifty can find support at 21,400 followed by 21,350 and 21,300. On the higher side, 21,500 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 21,550 and 21,600.”
Global Markets
US stocks extended their rally overnight on expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates as soon as March.
Most Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, with MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbing 0.65%.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was last up 0.9% in its first trading day after being closed for the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays.
Crude Oil
Oil prices fell in early Asian trade on Wednesday, trimming strong gains from the previous session as major shipping firms began returning to the Red Sea despite continued attacks and escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures fell 4 cents, or 0.05%, to $80.81 a barrel. US WTI crude futures were down 17 cents, or 0.21%, at $75.41 a barrel.
Rupee Falls
The Indian rupee fell 4 paise to $83.23 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, surged 0.05% to 101.51 level.
(With inputs from agencies)
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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
