Sensex reclaims Mount 50K as D-St extends rally to 4th day: Key factors driving market

The resilience of the market amidst the gloomy pandemic-related news has taken most market players by surprise. The favourable global market scenario is playing an important role in this vaccine-powered hope trade, said an analyst.

“Even while enjoying the bull run investors have to be guarded against potential froth and bubbles. The localised lockdowns and curfews have not impacted industrial activity much but there is a downside risk to GDP growth and earnings estimates. The pain in segments like aviation, hotels, restaurants and retail trade will linger for some time. Financials have emerged stronger after the initial good Q4 results,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

How are the blue chips doing?

After opening in the green, benchmark indices rose further. At 9:25 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 555 points or 1.12 per cent at 50,289. NSE benchmark Nifty followed, climbing 158 points or 1.06 per cent to 15,022.

In the 50-share pack Nifty, Tata Steel was the biggest gainer, up 3.11 per cent. Hindalco, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance and HCL Tech were among other gainers.

Tata Consumer was the top loser in the pack, down 0.44 per cent. Eicher Motors, Cipla, UltraTech Cement and Divi’s Laboratories were other losers in the pack.

FACTORS DRIVING MARKETS

Good news

• Fed meet outcome: The Federal Reserve held interest rates and its bond-buying program steady on Wednesday after its two-day policy meet despite taking a rosier view of the US economic recovery.
• Dollar falls: The dollar index edged 0.1 per cent lower against its rivals. The greenback dropped 0.15 per cent against the yen to 108.43 and the euro gained 0.2 per cent to 1.2147 following the US central bank’s decision to maintain supportive policies.

Bad news

• Covid rampage: The alarming rise in daily Covid-19 cases and deaths in India continued on Wednesday even as the number of active cases crossed 3 million for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. In the past 24 hours, 3.79 lakh fresh cases and 3,596 deaths were recorded in the country, the highest in a single day.

Broader markets

Broader market indices traded with gains, though underperforming their headline peers in morning deals. Nifty Smallcap was up 0.98 per cent while Nifty Midcap added 0.92 per cent. The broadest index on NSE, the Nifty 500, rose 1.07 per cent.

Varun Beverages, REC, Navin Fluorine, Ujjivan SFB, Bajaj Clectricals and Alkyl Amines were gainers from the space while Quess Corps, Bharat Dynamics, Sequent, Syngene, Crompton Greaves and Mindtree were under selling pressure.

Global markets

Early in the Asian trading day, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.31 per cent, as strong oil prices lifted energy stocks.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was 0.65 per cent higher in early trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened up 0.7 per cent, Seoul’s KOSPI added 0.37 per cent and Taiwan shares rose 0.48 per cent. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday but Nikkei futures edged 0.05 per cent higher to 28,970.

Nasdaq futures were 0.79 per cent higher and S&P e-mini futures added 0.48 per cent after Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.48 per cent to end at 33,820.38 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.08 per cent to 4,183.18.