The stock markets opened on a positive note on Thursday. The benchmark indices were in the green. Sensex rose over 172 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, ITC and Bajaj Finance amid largely positive cues from Asian peers.
The 30-share BSE index was trading 174.54 points or 0.36 percent higher at 48,852.09 in initial deals. NSE Nifty advanced 69.05 points or 0.47 percent to 14,686.90.
Bajaj Auto was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, gaining over 2 percent, followed by Bajaj Finance, ITC, HDFC, Titan, Maruti and M&M.
On the other hand, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid were among laggards.
In the previous session, Sensex jumped 424.04 points or 0.88 per cent to close at 48,677.55, while Nifty surged 121.35 points or 0.84 per cent to 14,617.85.
At 09:16 AM, the Sensex was up 172.65 points or 0.35 percent at 48850.20, and the Nifty was up 54.40 points or 0.37 percent at 14672.30.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,110.50 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 240.61 crore, according to provisional exchange data.
The trend of positive news alternating with negative news continues, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
"US President Joe Biden''s decision to back waiving intellectual property rights on vaccines is a big positive. This will quicken the vaccination process enabling countries like India to come out of the pandemic faster. But data on daily infections indicate a rise, though mild, after five days of decline. Also, lockdowns and restrictions on mobility are increasing, impacting the economic recovery," he noted.
The following companies will release their quarterly results today: Hero MotoCorp, Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Apcotex Industries, Blue Star, Caplin Point Laboratories, Century Textiles & Industries, Coforge, CreditAccess Grameen, Hindoostan Mills, ICRA, IIFL Finance, Jost's Engineering, Ludlow Jute & Specialities, Procter & Gamble Health, Praj Industries, Raymond, Solara Active Pharma Sciences, Sundram Fasteners, Tata Consumer Products, Five X Tradecom, Foseco India, Hikal, Ashika Credit Capital and Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation.
Fuel prices were raised for the third day in a row on Thursday as state-owned fuel retailers resumed daily rate revision after a more than two-week-long hiatus during assembly elections in states like West Bengal. Petrol in the national capital now costs Rs 90.99 a litre and diesel comes for Rs 81.42 per litre. Rates have been increased across the country and differ from state to state depending on the incidence of value-added tax.
US April ADP and ISM non-manufacturing PMI came in below expectations. If US data misses expectations, it would make it difficult for the market to position against the Fed, said Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO, IFA Global. US yields have come off 1-2 bps while US inflation expectations have risen further, pushing short-term real rates further lower. This is weighing on the Dollar. The Dow saw modest gains to end at a new record high.
The focus will be on the BoE monetary policy and Scottish elections today. US weekly jobless claims are also due today.
In Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the red.
Equities on Wall Street ended on a mixed note in overnight trade.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.10 percent higher at $69.03 per barrel.
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