Major benchmark indices opened flat on Thursday amid mixed global signals. At 9:15 am IST, the Sensex fell 77.67 points or 0.13 percent at 59480.66, and the Nifty fell 18.70 points or 0.11 percent at 17761.30. About 1,221 stocks are up, 644 stocks are down and 115 stocks are unchanged. Tata Consumer Products, Titan Company, IOC, Asian Paints and Bajaj Auto were among the big winners of the Nifty, while the losers were NTPC, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra and Wipro. In the broader market, the BSE MidCap index fell 0.2 percent, while the SmallCap index rose marginally by 0.18 percent.
Tata Consumer was the biggest winner from Nifty, up 3 percent on strong profits for the December quarter. Meanwhile, HDFC, Bajaj twins HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and Wipro were the biggest losers, dropping 0.5-1.5 percent.
Sectorally, excluding Nifty Auto, PSU banking, metals and real estate indices, the rest traded lower. These four were up to 0.6 percent higher. The biggest laggard was the Nifty IT index, down 0.75 percent, followed by financials and pharmaceuticals. Consumer durables and oil and gas indices remained flat.
“The Nifty witnessed a gap-up opening (17,577-17,706) and maintained its journey north as intraday dips were bought in. Daily price action formed a higher high-low bull candle, indicating the continuation of positive bias. In the process, the index followed 61.8 percent of its mid-January drop (18,350-16,836), at 17,700,” ICICI Securities said in a note.
On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex benchmark climbed 695.76 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 59,558.33 – the third consecutive session of gains. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 203.15 points or 1.16 percent to finish at 17,780.00.
Indian markets opened negatively just after catching their breath for a day after reaching two-week closing highs. Mohit Nigam, head of PMS, HEM Securities, said: “Benchmark indices are expected to open on a flat to negative note, as suggested by trends on SGX Nifty. US stock markets closed higher on Wednesday, NASDAQ added 71 points, followed by positive Results from Google parent Alphabet European indices also closed positively on Wednesday Asian markets showed mixed signals in early trading as concerns over global growth and geopolitical tensions were expressed as Nikkei fell 1 percent and Kospi traded +1.0 percent Oil prices soar on Wednesday after OPEC+ sticks to its plans for moderate production increases.”
Global clues
US equities recovered on the back of strong gains and lower stock prices. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq gained 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively; while the S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent.
Shares in Facebook owner Meta plunged 22.6 percent in after-hours trading as earnings and outlook fell short of expectations. Shares on Twitter and Spotify also fell and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 2 percent. If the decline continues until the U.S. market opens Thursday, the company’s total value, known as market capitalization, will be on track to fall by a figure larger than the size of the entire Greek economy, based on World Bank data. .
Meanwhile, Tokyo shares opened lower on Thursday as investors worried about the deepening crisis in Ukraine. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.88 percent or 242.42 points to 27,291.18, while the broader Topix index fell 0.47 percent or 9.19 points to 1,927.37. The dollar gained 114.37 yen, from 114.42 yen on Wednesday in New York.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday as OPEC+ stuck to its plan for a gradual increase in production despite demand for higher oil production. Brent Crude added 0.3 percent to $89.47 a barrel, and WTI Crude rose 0.1 percent to $88.26 a barrel.
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