The benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty traded higher on Tuesday tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and TCS despite a negative trend in Asian markets. Smallcap and midcap indices are up half a percent each. tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and TCS despite a negative trend in Asian markets.
At 09:02 IST, the Sensex was up 95.58 points or 0.20 percent at 48482.09. The Nifty was down 50 points or 0.35 percent at 14435.00.
Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 percent, followed by PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy’s and HDFC Bank. Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, Nestle India and HCL Tech were among the laggards.
In the previous session, Sensex ended 508.06 points or 1.06 percent higher at 48,386.51, and Nifty jumped 143.65 points or 1 percent to 14,485.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,111.89 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.
Domestic equities rebounded mainly led by sharp recovery in financials, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities. Barring Pharma, most of the key sectoral indices traded in green in the morning session. Strong March quarter performance led ICICI Bank to recover sharply, while HCL Tech witnessed sell-off due to subdued 4Q performance.
“A persistent rise in COVID-19 cases across the nation and enhanced economic restrictions has dented investors sentiments over the last couple of weeks. However, a sharp reduction in fresh caseload in Maharashtra on Monday offered some comfort and a further reversal in caseload should augur well for the economy and markets," he noted.
Mumbai has started showing some respite in the daily cases of COVID-19 and the daily cases seem to be falling down. Markets have started to show some strength with the fall in COVID number. As seen recently despite the strength shown in the markets - its facing challenges to overcome the small hurdle of 14,500. Overall the flattish global markets indicate a similar beginning here and stock specific action will be seen in the current results season, said Mohit Nigam Head PMS & Advisory, Hem Securities.
Active COVID-19 cases in India stood at 28,82,204, up from 28,13,658 cases registered on Monday, according to Union Health Ministry data.
Asian shares fall
Asian shares fell and US stock futures were steady as caution ahead of a US Federal Reserve meeting. A slew of corporate earnings offset growing optimism about the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 blow, Reuters said.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.
Bourses on Wall Street ended with gains in overnight sessions.
"With Nasdaq and S&P at record highs, the global support to markets is strong. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting starting later in the day will be keenly watched by markets for clues on probable trends in rates and yields," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
