Equity indices, the Nifty and the Sensex, started off lower this morning but quickly rebounded. Despite a sluggish global market and a spike in Brent crude oil prices, the 30-share BSE Sensex is trading flat at 66,427, while the Nifty is above the 19,800 mark.
The Nifty Midcap 100 is performing on par with the benchmarks, but the small caps are outperforming, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 up 0.6% at 13,138. The pharma and media sectors have both gained 1% each, with Cipla leading the Nifty gainers, up 3.5%, while Bajaj Finance is the top loser, down 1.3%.
Among the Sensex firms, major laggards include Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, NTPC, and Larsen & Toubro. Gainers include Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, and Sun Pharma.
Varun Aggarwal, founder and managing director of Profit Idea, believes that the Nifty is consolidating after surpassing the crucial resistance level of 19,767. He sees strength in the broader market, particularly in mid and small-cap shares. Aggarwal highlights the attractiveness and upward momentum of IT, media, metals, FMCG, banks, and realty stocks. He also notes the positive Open Interest (OI) data and strong put writing as factors supporting a bullish bias.
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are trading in the negative territory, while Seoul is in the green. The US markets closed with mixed results on Tuesday.
In the global oil market, Brent crude jumped 1.87% to reach $91.58 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 263.68 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
On Tuesday, the BSE benchmark rose 261.16 points or 0.39%, settling at 66,428.09, while the Nifty gained 79.75 points or 0.40% to reach 19,811.50.