Major benchmark indices extended gains into a second session on Wednesday as investors continued to assess the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. At 09:16 IST, the Sensex rose 142.42 points or 0.27 percent to 53566.51 and the Nifty rose 41.90 points or 0.26 percent at 16055.40. About 1,465 shares have moved up, 310 shares have fallen and 57 shares have remained unchanged.
Sensex’s profits were led by Titan, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Tech M, Dr. reddies. Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, meanwhile, were the biggest losers. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were in positive territory, up 0.7 percent.
Shares of Trident traded more than 3 percent higher as India Ratings upgraded its long-term credit rating to IND AA with positive outlook.
Aviation shares rose to 6 percent on opening trades following news of the resumption of international passenger flights almost after 2 years.
dr. VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Negative sentiment in global equity markets continues. As long as the war continues and crude oil remains at high levels, a sustained rally is unlikely. High crude will have an impact on India’s GDP growth and corporate earnings growth for FY 23. FY 23 The smart EPS estimate of 870 early this year will be missed. Higher inflation will be another negative point.”
“The market has responded to the emerging scenario with a handy correction of over 14 percent. But IT, metals, energy and pharma stocks have performed well as they can benefit from price and demand trends. For investors willing to take another 5 percent of prices in the short term, high-quality financials offer a buying opportunity,” explains Vijayakumar.
Market benchmarks rose in a seesaw on Tuesday after four days of steep declines, as investors recently rallied battered IT, pharma and financial stocks even as the crisis in Ukraine continued to overhang. World shares were mixed as participants followed Russia’s mounting attack on Ukraine and the cascade of sanctions against Moscow.
Global clues
U.S. stocks lost ground on Tuesday after President Joe Biden imposed a ban on Russian petroleum imports and more major companies announced they would shut down operations in Russia. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent to close the session at 32,632.64, its lowest level in nearly a year. The broad S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 4,170.7 points, while tech-rich Nasdaq lost 0.3 percent to 12,795.55.
Tokyo shares opened higher on Wednesday after three days of losses amid lingering uncertainty over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ahead of key events and data expected this week. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.41 percent or 101.80 points to 24,892.75 in early trading, while the broader Topix index rose 0.38 percent or 6.65 points to 1,766.51.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.26 percent, or 54.15 points, to 20,820.02. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.31 percent or 10.18 points to 3,303.71, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange rose 0.19 percent or 4.12 points to 2,143.79.
Read all the latest news, breaking news and live updates from the parliamentary elections here.