Indian Benchmark Indices are trading during the opening session with Nifty around 17,400. At 9:15 am IST, the Sensex was up 258.53 points or 0.45 percent at 58255.21, and the Nifty was up 92.10 points or 0.53 percent at 17414.30. About 1,387 shares have moved up, 360 shares have fallen and 84 shares have remained unchanged.
Tata Motors, Wipro, IOC, Hero MotoCorp and Grasim Industries were among the big winners of the Nifty, while the losers HDFC Life, HDFC Bank, HUL, Britannia Industries and Dr. Reddy’s Labs were.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were also in positive territory, up 0.5 percent each. Sector-wise, the Nifty Auto index was the biggest winner, up 1 percent, followed by Nifty Realty, and Oil & Gas were up 0.4 percent each. Nifty Bank and Pharma fell into the red as their opening profits fell to 0.2 percent.
Global signals are mixed, led by a mix of bets on rate hikes in the US and easing of tensions in Ukraine. “US stocks ended slightly lower after the release of macroeconomic data. Japan fell, while other Asian stocks were mixed, after a small gain for the S&P 500 on Wednesday,” said Mohit Nigam, head of PMS, Hem Securities.
Prashanth Tapse, vice president (research), Mehta Equities Ltd., said on the technical side: “volatility may be the hallmark until investors are confident that Russia will not invade Ukraine. Nifty will face major hurdles at 17807 marks and would not stronger than 17807 mark. Intraday hurdles at 17417 mark. For today, seen support at 17208 and then 17057. Expect a cascade of sales now only below the 16811 mark.”
Global clues
US markets ended a volatile trading session with marginal losses on Wednesday as investors breathed a sigh of relief after the Fed’s FOMC minutes indicated that the Fed plans to raise interest rates, but that it would do so at a moderate pace. This puts an end to the fear of successive interest rate hikes this calendar year. The Dow Jones fell 0.2 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose as the US and NATO questioned Russia’s willingness to negotiate a solution to the crisis, accusing the country of increasing the military buildup around Ukraine. Brent oil rose 1.6 percent to $94.81 a barrel and WTI crude rose 1.7 percent to $93.66 a barrel.
Major markets in Asia showed a mixed trend this morning. Kospi rose 1.2 percent. Straits Times and Taiwan rose 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. On the other hand, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.4 percent and Shanghai Composite’s 0.2 percent. Hang Seng traded on a flat note.
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