The benchmark indices opened on a firm footing on February 9. At 09:15 AM, the Sensex was up 340.79 points or 0.59 percent at 58m149.37. The broader Nifty was up 91.60 points or 0.53 percent at 17,358.40. About 1,338 shares have advanced, 456 shares declined, and 56 shares are unchanged.
Among major gainers at the opening bell were Hindalco, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, ONGC and Infosys were among major gainers on the Nifty. The major losers were IOC, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Life and SBI Life Insurance.
Nifty closed higher on February 8, after swinging between gains and losses through the session and in the process snapped a three day losing streak. At close, Nifty was up 0.31 percent or 53.15 points at 17,266.75.
Nifty made a bullish hammer like pattern suggesting formation of a short term bottom. Advance decline ratio however remains deeply in the negative reflecting the weakness in the broader market. Institutional selling pressure in largecaps seems to have ebbed. Nifty could now face resistance at 17,462 while 17,044 could provide support in the near-term.
Asian stocks up
Stocks in Asia rose Wednesday and a selloff in sovereign bonds paused, bringing some relief for markets from the concerns about tightening monetary policy that have whipsawed assets this year.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1 percent to its highest in two weeks, helped by a 3 percent gain in Hong Kong-listed tech stocks. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.9 percent.f
US markets close higher
US equity benchmarks finished decisively higher Tuesday, following choppy morning trading, as investors took comfort in corporate quarterly reports and awaited data later this week on inflation.
All three main Wall Street indexes closed higher with tech stocks including Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp jumping, as did bank stocks supported by the prospect of higher U.S interest rates. Nonetheless, the Nasdaq Composite is still down 9.2 percent this year after a brutal January.
Market participants also kept a close eye on interest rates, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising toward 2 percent. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 3.9 basis points Tuesday to 1.954 percent , marking the highest rate since July of 2019. Rising yields can be a negative for technology and other so-called growth stocks, whose valuations are based on expectations for rapidly growing profit and cash flows far into the future. As yields rise, the present value of that future cash falls.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s conversation Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have quelled some of the anxieties surrounding Russia as it stations troops outside of Ukraine, “giving a little bit of a boost to the markets,” . There seems “a little less possibility of a large move by Russia.” Russia's rouble hit a four-week high.
The National Federation of Independent Business said its small-business optimism index slipped 1.8 percentage points in January to 97.1—an 11-month low. The NFIB said a net 61 percent of small businesses increased prices at the beginning of the new year, the highest percentage since 1974.
US trade deficit widens in December
US international trade deficit widened in December by 1.8 percent to $80.7 billion, marking it the second largest monthly increase ever. The deficit jumped 27 percent in 2021 to a record $859 billion largely because a recovering economy gave Americans the means to buy more imports, though they also paid higher prices due to rising inflation.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a short-term spending bill that would stave off a looming government shutdown, as lawmakers bought time to work on a bigger budget agreement. The House bill, which passed 272-162, funds the government through March 11, and now goes to the Senate for a separate vote. President Joe Biden would need to sign the measure into law to avoid a partial shutdown at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 19.
US consumer prices data, set to be released on Thursday, is forecast at a four-decade high of 7.3 percent.
Blue chip Chinese stocks drop to 19-month low
Blue chip Chinese stocks dropped to a 19-month low on Tuesday after big tech firms' heavy losses and U.S. export warnings on 33 new Chinese firms.
China offered its huge steel industry five extra years of rising carbon emissions, sending iron ore soaring as investors saw the move as a renewed focus on propping up the economy. Steelmaking accounts for about 15 percent of China’s carbon emissions. On Monday, the government set 2030 as the new deadline for peak-emissions for the sector, against an earlier target of 2025.
Poland increases borrowing costs for fifth consecutive month
Poland increased borrowing costs for a fifth consecutive month to an almost nine-year high as pressure grows on the central bank to tame record inflation in eastern Europe’s largest economy. The council that sets interest rates lifted the benchmark 50 basis points to 2.75 percent on Tuesday. Inflation pressure has only mounted after reaching a 21-year record of 8.6 percent in December and possibly close to 10 percent last month.
Oil regains
Oil regained some ground after falling earlier in the week due to optimism around talks with Iran, leading to a possible rise in supply. Brent crude futures rose 0.3 percent, to $91.01 a barrel, while U.S. crude was at $89.47 a barrel, up 0.1 percent.
Results today
The following companies will release their quarterly results today: Power Grid Corporation of India, Tata Power, ACC, Bosch, FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa), Aurobindo Pharma, Berger Paints, 3i Infotech, Abbott India, Aries Agro, BASF India, Bharat Bijlee, DCB Bank, Engineers India, Entertainment Network (India), Finolex Cables, GMR Infrastructure, HEG, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Jindal Stainless (Hisar), Lumax Auto Technologies, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation, Paras Defence and Space Technologies, Patel Engineering, Petronet LNG, Procter & Gamble Health, Hitachi Energy India, Prestige Estates Projects, Pricol, SAIL, Solara Active Pharma Sciences, Spencers Retail, Sundaram-Clayton, Talbros Automotive Components, TTK Healthcare, and Welspun Specialty Solutions.
F&O ban
BHEL is under the F&O ban for February 9.
