Sensex jumps 413 points, Nifty nears 17,200; realty stocks rally

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Domestic benchmark equity indices opened higher on Tuesday after U.S. shares rebounded amid easing concerns about the impact of omicron on the global reopening.  In opening trades, Sensex advanced 413 points or 0.72% to 57,674 levels while the Nifty was quoting well above the 17,100 mark at 17,179 higher by 125 points or 0.74%.

“The rebound in US and European markets support the other view that the omicron variant need not be faster transmitting and more virulent. In brief, ambiguity and uncertainty are very high. Therefore, investors may continue to be in ‘wait and watch mode’ till clarity emerges. The underperformance of the Bank Nifty – while Nifty is down 3.5% in November, Bank Nifty is down 8% – is a major trend in this market. This has the potential to reverse,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Top gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

Barring Nifty Pharma (0.09%) all other sectoral indices were trading higher. Nifty Realty index skyrocketed 3.50% followed by Nifty IT index surging 1.72% and Nifty PSU Bank rallied 1.64%. Whereas Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal and Nifty Nifty FMCG rose in the range of 0.30-0.90%.

Broader markets

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices as the BSE MidCap index gained 403 points or 1.64% to 25,019 while the BSE SmallCap index was trading at 28,013 up by 474 points or 1.72%.

Bull had an upper hand in the markets as 2,127 shares advanced while 509 declined and 79 remained unchanged.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are mostly trading higher on Tuesday as Japanese stocks led gains regionally, with investors reacting to the release of Chinese factory activity data for November.

China’s factory activity unexpectedly picked up in November, growing for the first time in three months as raw material prices fell and power rationing abated. The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) was at 50.1 in November, up from 49.2 in October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Investors in the region also continued to track any developments surrounding the omicron variant, which the World Health Organization said is likely to spread further and poses a “very high” global risk.

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Monday, regaining some of the ground they lost in Friday’s sell-off as investors were hopeful that the Omicron coronavirus variant would not lead to lockdowns after reassurance from U.S. President Joe Biden.

If people are vaccinated and wear their masks, there’s no need for lockdowns, Biden said on Monday. Biden also said there would be no new travel restrictions.