Market Today: The BSE Sensex opened 250 points higher at 59,913, and the NSE Nifty50 gained 65 points to reach right above 17,050.
Reliance, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank Bajaj twins, Nestle, Titan, L&T, ICICI Bank and HCL Tech were the top winners on the Sensex, while Adani Enterprises and SBI Life were the additional gainers on the Nifty.
On the flip side, ITC, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Tech M, M&M and JSW Steel were the top laggards across the two frontline indices.
The broader markets opened with slightly larger gains. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose up to 0.5 per cent.
Sectorally, defensives like Nifty IT, pharma and FMCG indices were the only losers, down up to 0.7 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty PSU Bank and consumer durable index rose the most, up almost a per cent each.
Among stocks, shares of HDFC AMC rose 2 per cent after SBI Mutual Fund bought a 2.2 per cent stake in the AMC worth Rs 757 crore in open market transactions on Monday, as GQG Partners sold off 1.16 per cent stake.
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, “Two data points indicate the current market mood. The stock price of the US bank First Republic crashed by 40% yesterday and gold zoomed by 2% . Fears of contagion in the global banking system is causing the nervous selling in vulnerable banking stocks and strength in gold is indicative of the flight to safety. Fears of banking contagion hitting equity markets have aggravated FII selling, which has reached a cumulative Rs 11757 crores in the last 11 days. FII’s net short position is at record highs indicating negative expectations. Even though the current texture of the market is sell on rallies, the huge short position may trigger a short-squeeze if the Fed decides to pause in the meeting tomorrow. Tomorrow’s Fed decision and commentary will be crucial.”
Global Cues
Asian stocks climbed Tuesday following gains on Wall Street as immediate concerns over the strength of the global financial system dissipated.
US stocks jumped on Monday after a deal to rescue Credit Suisse and central bank efforts to bolster confidence in the financial system relieved investors, while participants also weighed the likelihood of a pause in rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this week.
The dollar regained some ground on Tuesday but was pinned near a five-week low as traders tiptoed back into riskier assets after UBS’ state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse allayed some fears of a widespread, systemic banking crisis. The dollar slipped 0.12% to 131.15 against the Japanese yen , while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.04% to 103.30.
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