Indian equities continued to trade higher amid volatility on Thursday. Consumer durables, oil & gas, pharma and auto stocks gained while metals and banks witnessed selling activity.
At 10.08 a.m., the Sensex was trading up 331.88 points or 0.58% at 58,016.67 with 10 components posting rise. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading higher by 115.10 points or 0.67% at 17,282 with 22 components registering rise.
Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Power Grid Corporation of India (3.09%), M&M (2.78%), HDFC (2.56%), Titan (2.24%), Sun Pharma (1.82%) and Asian Paints (1.48%).
On the other hand, Axis Bank (0.81%), ICICI Bank (0.72%), Larsen & Toubro (0.59%), State Bank of India (0.22%), Tata Steel (0.08%) and IndusInd Bank (0.08%) were the major losers in the Sensex. Market breadth was positive with 1,942 advances against 961 declines.
On global front, Asian stocks fell on Thursday after a sharp reversal in U.S. shares on concerns about risks from the omicron virus strain and as Jerome Powell reiterated a pivot toward potentially tapering stimulus more quickly. Stocks fell in Japan, South Korea and Australia (down 0.5 to 1%).
US stocks sold off aggressively on Wednesday, pressuring the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones fell 2-3% from the intra-day high and finally ended over 1% lower, it was the biggest reversal since April 2020. Markets were roiled after the first case of the omicron mutation was reported in the U.S. as countries around the world rushed to tighten travel curbs.
European equities jumped the most since early May after the World Health Organization’s comments that vaccines will likely protect against severe cases of the omicron coronavirus variant offered relief to investors. UK, Germany and France Index gained over 2% each while European market close before the US market. SGX Nifty declined nearly 1% while Dow Jones Future gained 0.4%.
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