Sensex jumps 355 points at open, Nifty tops 15,850; PSU banks, realty stocks gain

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Indian benchmark equity indices opened in the green on the first trading session of August, amid a mixed trend in the Asian markets. Sensex opened 355 points or 0.68% higher at 52,942, while the Nifty 50 advanced 96 points or 0.61% at 15,859.

“The July auto sales numbers indicate a strong turn around especially in passenger & commercial vehicles. Therefore, some portfolio churn in favour of autos is likely. Meanwhile, the Delta variant has started posing new challenges in the US with last Friday infections spiking above 2 lakhs. If this starts impacting economic activity, it may impact markets,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

All Sectoral indices opened in the green. Nifty Auto surged the most rallied 1.14%, followed by the Nifty Metal index rose 0.79%. While Nifty IT, Nifty Realty, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Bank and Nifty Pharma indices were up anywhere in the range of 0.50-0.70%.

Broader markets

The broader market opened higher mirroring trends in the benchmark indices. BSE MidCap index rose 0.62% to 23,200 whereas the BSE SmallCap index settled at 26,980 rallying as much as 0.85%.

Overall market breadth was positive as 1,899 shares advanced compared to 472 declined while 91 remained unchanged.

“A significant trend in the market this year is the outperformance of the broader market. While the Nifty is up 12.74% YTD, the Nifty Midcap & Nifty Smallcap are up by 33.45% and 48.46 % respectively YTD. The broader market is now valued at a premium to Nifty. This happens in a bull market particularly when growth and earnings are in an expansion cycle,” Vijayakumar added.

Earnings today

HDFC, Punjab National Bank, Emami, Ajmera Realty & Infra, Balaji Amines, Carborundum Universal, Castrol India, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Nahar Spinning Mills, Orient Cement, RBL Bank, Shree Renuka Sugars, and Varun Beverages will announce their quarterly earnings today.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Monday, as data showed Chinese manufacturing activity growth slowed in July.

The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for July released Monday came in at 50. The Caixin manufacturing PMI figure had come in at 51.3 in June.

China’s official manufacturing PMI released over the weekend also showed factory activity growth slowing in July, with the figure for the month coming in at 50.4 versus June’s reading of 50.9.

The Covid situation in the region may also weigh on investor sentiment. More areas in Japan entered a Covid-19 state of emergency on Monday due to a spike in virus cases, as per reports.

U.S. stock indexes closed lower Friday, with renewed concerns about a rise of cases of the delta variant COVID-19 and disappointing results from Amazon.com partly blamed for the slump.

Data on Friday showed the core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.5% in June year over year.

A final reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer-sentiment index fell to 81.2 in July from a reading of 85.5 in June, though it exceeded the initial July figure of 80.8.