Sensex jumps 391 points at open, Nifty tops15,750; metals, banks shine

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Equity benchmark opened with a gap on Wednesday tracking gains in index heavyweights Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finance. Sensex opened 391 points or 0.75% higher at 52,590, while the Nifty 50 advanced 124 points or 0.79% to 15,756.

“The market pendulum swinging between risk-on & risk-off has become a trend now. However, the 15600 – 15900 range is unlikely to hold for long. If the upper band of 15900 is to be broken decisively, the essential requirement would be FIIs ceasing to sell at this level. But even on Tuesday FIIs sold heavily (Rs 2385 cr). So watch out for FII activity,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, the Delta variant scare, which led to the market sell-off on Monday on Wall Street, appears to have died down. Dr Fauci’s statement yesterday that the vaccines are effective against all variants is reassuring. Results declared recently show pressure in financials like banks, insurance firms and NBFCs like Bajaj Finance. But these pressures are likely to be short-lived. Asian Paints’ excellent numbers indicate that there are pockets of business coming out with flying colours in these pandemic times, added Vijayakumar.

Gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

All sectoral indices opened in the green. Nifty Metal lead the pack rallying 1.30%, followed by Nifty Bank, up 1.04%. While Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Pharma and Nifty IT indices were up anywhere between 0.25-0.75%.

Broader market

The broader markets outperformed benchmark indices as the BSE MidCap index opened 0.84% higher at 22,891, while the BSE SmallCap index was trading at 26,307 rose 1.17%.

Market breadth was also positive with 1,517 shares advanced compared to 258 stocks declining while 478 scrips remained unchanged.

Earnings today

Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Auto, Agro Tech Foods, Bajaj Holdings & Investment, Biocon, Can Fin Homes, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, CSB Bank, Heidelbergcement India, Hindustan Zinc, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, Indian Energy Exchange, IIFL Securities, IndiaMART InterMESH, India Pesticides, Lloyds Steels Industries, Bank of Maharashtra, Mahindra EPC Irrigation, Mphasis, Persistent Systems, Music Broadcast, Shiva Cement, South Indian Bank, Sterlite Technologies, and Wockhardt will be announcing their quarterly earnings today.

Global markets

Asian stocks traded higher after solid company earnings boosted Wall Street, easing concerns about peak economic growth and coronavirus flareups. Markets in Japan are closed on Thursday for a holiday.

Wall Street stocks posted their second-straight daily gain on Wednesday, with robust corporate earnings and renewed optimism about the U.S. economic recovery fueling a risk-on rally.