Sensex jumps 167 points, Nifty near 18,000; auto stocks zoom

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Domestic benchmark equity indices opened higher on Tuesday tracking Asian peers that were trading mixed and currencies held tight ranges as nervous investors awaited several key central bank meetings that could set the tone for risk appetite heading into next year. In opening trades Sensex rose 167 points or 0.28% to 60,306. While the Nifty 50 was quoting at 17,995 higher by 65 points or 0.37%.

“The 258 point surge in Nifty yesterday, despite massive sustained selling by FIIs for several days, has again proved that FII selling can impact the market only in the short run. The retail and DII enthusiasm is getting fundamental support from positive economic data like record GST collections (Rs 1.3lakh cr in October), PMI at 55.9 in September and better than expected Q2 results. An important event that can influence financial markets globally is the FOMC meet starting today. The Fed is widely expected to announce tapering its bond buying program starting this month. More important than the tapering announcement, which is already discounted by markets, will be the Fed’s response to inflation and the likely cues on rate hikes. If indications of an earlier than expected rate hike comes from the FOMC meet, that can be negative for markets. Otherwise markets may continue to be resilient,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

All sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in the green. The Nifty Auto index zoomed 0.99% followed by Nifty Realty advanced 0.62% and Nifty Metal index jumped 0.54%. While Nifty FMCG, Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Bank indices rose 0.08-0.25%.

The volatility index gauge India VIX cooled off by 1.09% to 17.23 levels.

Broader markets

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE MidCap gained 131 points or 0.51% to 25,851 while the BSE SmallCap index was trading at 28,491 higher by 198 points or 0.70%.

The market breadth was also positive as 1,703 shares advanced while 540 declined and 89 remained unchanged.

Earnings today

Bharti Airtel, HPCL, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Bank of India, Godrej Properties, Union Bank of India, Dabur India among others will release their September 2021 quarter earnings today, 2 November 2021.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Tuesday, with the Australian central bank set to announce its interest rate decision later in the day.

Wall Street’s main indexes notched record closing highs on November 1 as Tesla shares surged and the energy sector gained.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.28 points to 35,913.84, helped by gains in Boeing and Dow Inc., closing at a fresh record. The S&P 500 rose nearly 0.2% to 4,613.67, closing at an all-time high. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% to 15,595.92 and also hit a closing record.

Investors are monitoring the US Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. The central bank is widely expected to announce that it will begin to unwind its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases and end the program entirely by the middle of next year.

US manufacturing activity slowed in October, with all industries reporting record-long lead times for raw materials. The ISM’s index of national factory activity slipped to a reading of 60.8 last month from 61.1 in September.