The stock markets ended the day's trading on a high. Indian equity markets ended in green with a gain of 1.02 percent. The top gaining sectoral indices Nifty Energy up by 2.28 percent followed by Nifty Bank up by 1.15 percent, while Nifty Pharma down by 0.82 percent and Realty down by 0.53 percent.
At close, the Sensex was up 672.71 points or 1.14 percent at 59,855.93. The broader Nifty was up 179.60 points or 1.02 percent at 17,805.30. Bank Nifty was up 1.15 percent closing at 36,840.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Energy was leading with 2.2 percent gains followed by PSUBank and Infra, contributing almost 1 percent gains. Rest of the indices also closed at green note. Stocks like NTPC, ONGC, Power Grid and SBI were the top gainers while Tata Motors, Coal India, Sun Pharma were the prime laggards for the day.
Equity investors are a happy lot as their wealth jumped by Rs 4.76 lakh crore in the first two days of trading in the New Year, driven by optimism in the broader market. Helped by the ongoing rally, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped by Rs 4,76,367.89 crore to reach Rs 2,70,76,579.44 crore in just two trading sessions.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, "Nifty has shown great strength in its recent upmove. Even with traders beginning to return, the upward momentum has not eased. Now Nifty could face resistance in the 17,868-17,918 band while 17,640 could offer support."
Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities, said, "On technical front, Nifty's immediate support and resistance can be 17,500 and 18,000 respectively. While for Bank Nifty 36,300 and 37,300 may act as immediate support and resistance."
In a big relief, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the Omicron will be a short-term disruption for businesses but supply chains and industrial activities will continue at full speed.
Sugar production is estimated to have risen by 4.75 per cent to 115.70 lakh ton during the October-December period of the 2021-22 season which resulted in a good rally in all sugar stocks today. Sugar prices are expected to rise 16 percent-17 percent this season majorly due to pick-up in industrial demand and increased exports, added Nigam.
Sachin Gupta, AVP, Research, Choice Broking, said, "Technically, the Nifty index has managed to sustain above the prior swing high of 17,639.50 levels, which indicates a bullish presence for the coming day. Moreover, the Nifty index has also moved above Upper Bollinger Band formation and 50-Days Simple Moving Averages that suggests a bullish trend. A MACD is showing good strength with positive crossover and RSI reading is above 60 marks. At present, the Index has support at 17,600 levels while resistance at 18000 levels. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 36,300 levels while resistance at 37,500 levels."
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said, "There could be bouts of volatility going ahead as concerns over rising inflation, higher interest rate scenario and increasing cases of Omicron variant would keep investors on the edge. The Nifty opened with a positive note and successfully cleared the key resistance level of 17,700. On intraday charts, the index has formed a promising breakout continuation formation which is broadly positive. For day traders, the support has shifted to 17,700 from 17,550. As long as the index is trading above 17,700, the chances of it hitting 17,850-17,890 levels would turn bright. However, below 17,700, a strong possibility of a quick intraday correction up to 17,625-17,580 is not ruled out."
