The key Indian equity indices opened on a positive note on Tuesday with the BSE Sensex surging over 400 points, opening at 50,258.09, higher by 408.25 points from its previous close of 49,849.84 points.
Healthy buying was witnessed in IT, oil and gas and banking stocks. The gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra and Infosys, while the only losers were ONGC, HDFC and Power Grid.
At around 9.25 a.m., it was trading at 50,240.45, higher by 390.61 points or 0.78 per cent from its previous close. It has so far touched an intra-day high of 50,261.93. The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 14,869.35, higher by 107.80 points or 0.73 per cent.
Manish Hathiramani, technical analyst with Deen Dayal Investments said: "We are currently trading in the resistance zone of the Nifty. This range which is between 14,850-14,950 needs to be conquered if the markets want to resume the uptrend. We need to close above 14,950 at the very least.
"On the flip side if we turn around from here, fresh shorting opportunities will emerge and take the markets south to levels closer to 14,500."
Gas prices up but other indicators positive
IGL has hiked CNG prices by Rs 0.7/kg leading to revised price of Rs 43.4/kg in Delhi and in the range of Rs 49.1-60.5/kg in other geographical areas from March 2 onwards. The domestic PNG price was accordingly increased by Rs 0.91/scm touching Rs 28.41/scm in Delhi.
On home loan front, lending major State Bank of India on Monday announced a limited period 'home loan' offer entailing a concession of up to 70 bps with interest rates starting from 6.70 per cent onwards to give further push to housing sector.
Besides, supportive global cues such as the passage of the US Stimulus bill in the House of Representatives and bargain hunting after the selloff seen last week aided in the upward movement of the indices.
However, FIIs inflows were miniscule at just Rs 125.15 crore and the market buyonacy was mainly driven by domestic investors. Globally, Asian stocks rose broadly on Monday reflecting investor optimism about the vaccine rollout and the stimulus-driven global economic recovery. Similarly, European stocks rose as calm returned to bond markets after last week's sell-off.
"Nifty has made an inside bar after the sell-off seen on Friday," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities. "While this is a mildly positive signal, it needs to soon fill the downgap between 14,919-15,065 to nullify the recent weakness."
(With inputs from IANS)
