Benchmark stock indices opened on a firm note on Friday, the last trading session of 2022, tracking a strong buying action in Asian markets. The gains were, however, capped.
Lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in China and hopes of a dovish Federal Reserve going ahead lifted market segment.
At 9.20 am on Friday, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex was trading 176 points or 0.29 higher at 61,310. NSE’s barometer Nifty50 rose about 43 points or 0.24 per cent to 18,234.
The broader indices outperformed the headline indices, with the BSE midcap index rising 0.7 per cent and the BSE smallcap index gaining over 1 per cent.
India VIX eased more than a per cent to 14.65.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said that the most significant feature of 2022 was the outperformance of domestic stocks.
“This outperformance is the result of mainly two factors- India’s superior economic growth and domestic investors supporting the market by buying every dip caused by FII selling,” he said.
This trend is likely to sustain forcing FIIs to turn buyers in India in 2023, he said adding that the December quarter results are starting from January 12, which.
Capital goods, financials and construction-related segments are likely to post good results, Vijayakumar added.
All the sectors were trading in the black during the early trade, led by strong buying in metal, technology, IT and PSU banks. Power and utility stocks were also at the focus of traders.
Among Nifty50 stocks, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finseve rose 2 per cent each, followed by Hindalco, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Wipro, ONGC, Tech Mahindra and Tata Motors, which added over a per cent each.
Among losers, Eicher Motors and SBI Life Insurance slipped over one per cent each. M&M, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma shed over half a per cent each.
Centrum Capital, Craftsman Automation, Eureka Forbes were the top gainers in the broader market, rising 5-8 per cent. Tips Industries, Shipping Corporation of India and Talbros Automotive declined 2 per cent each.
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