Indian benchmark indices opened higher today amid mixed global cues. Sensex opened 254 points higher at 59,859 and Nifty gained 80 points to 17591. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms rose to Rs 261.38 lakh crore.
Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, SBI and IndusInd Bank were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.34 per cent in early trade. Of 30 Sensex shares, 22 were trading in the green. M&M, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Maruti, HDFC and HDFC Bank were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 2.14%.
Later, the benchmark indices trimmed some gains with the Sensex trading 110 pts higher at 59,545 and Nifty rising 24 pts to 17,535.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, “Fifth straight day of losses happening in the third consecutive monthly losing streak has made the market distinctly weak. The bearish grip on the market has been assisted by negative global cues, FII selling and the sentimental fallout of the Adani crisis. Even though there are no clear visible positive triggers for the market now, a mild reversal is possible, going forward, culminating in positive returns in March. This view has the backing of history: Nifty never had four consecutive months of negative returns during the last 20 years. The selling in Bank Nifty is overdone. The fears of the Adani crisis impacting the Indian banking system are exaggerated.”
Metal and auto shares were the top sectoral losers with their BSE indices falling 345 points and 216 points, respectively. On the other hand, BSE bankex rose 88 points to 45,403.
BSE mid cap and small cap indices fell 9.78 points and gained 22.36 points, respectively. Market breadth was positive with 1691 stocks trading higher against 1107 stocks falling on BSE. 141 shares were unchanged.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers on Thursday as they sold shares worth Rs 1417.24 crore, as per exchange data.
Previous session
Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Thursday amid weak global cues. The domestic indices were dragged by consumer durables and financials. Sensex fell 139 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 59,606; while Nifty moved 43 points or 0.25 per cent down to close at 17,511. Mid and smallcap shares finished on a weak note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.15 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 shedding 0.08 per cent. India VIX slipped 3.28 per cent to 15.08.
Global markets
In Asia, Nikkei gained 289 pts to 27,393 but Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 287 pts to 20063. The Kospi in Seoul shed 14 pts to 2425. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 109 points to 33153 on Thursday. The Nasdaq composite gained 83 points to 11,590 and S&P 500 climbed 21 pts to 4012.
Stocks in news: Adani Transmission, Infosys, Rail Vikas Nigam, Bharat Forge and more
After rallying 300% in 90 days, shares of this multibagger garments maker will turn ex-bonus, ex-split today