Sensex Today: Equity markets opened higher for a second straight day on Tuesday morning, based on signals from overnight trading in the US. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 171.5 points, or 0.28 percent, to record 61,113 levels in early deals. The Nifty50, meanwhile, crossed the 18,150 mark and was up 45 points, or 0.24 percent.
Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tech M, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finserv were the large-caps that pulled front-line indices up in early deals, as well as Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Nestle India and Sun Pharma tried limit profits.
In the broader markets, BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose to 0.2 percent.
Of the sector indices, the Nifty IT and PSU Bank indices (up 0.5 percent each) performed best, followed by the Nifty Bank index (up 0.4 percent). On the other hand, the Nifty Realty index fell 0.2 percent.
Dr. UK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “A key trend in the global stock market right now is the outperformance of the parent market US. Hopes for a soft landing of the US economy are increasing and the market is responding to this. The S&P 500 is up 5.12 percent year-to-date in January. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 8.5 percent, which is especially good news for Indian IT companies, which are likely to do well now. The positive sentiment also favors a pre-budget rally. The continued momentum has the potential to positively break the 17800-18200 range. The outstanding performance of the banking segment stands out in this Q3 earnings season. Stay invested in banking stocks, especially high-quality names, despite rising prices.”
Global signals
Markets in the Asia-Pacific traded higher as most of the region observed the Lunar New Year holidays. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.17 percent in morning trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.29 percent. At 7:20 AM SGX Nifty was up 81 points on 18,227 levels.
Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore are closed for a holiday.
Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite rose 2 percent in the US; S&P 500 1.2 percent; and Dow Jones 0.76 percent. Investors will be following PMI data for US manufacturing and services, which will be released later today.
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