Sensex Rises 200 Points, Nifty Trades Above 17,650; Power Stocks Lead

NTPC, PowerGrid, M&M, Axis Bank, Maruti, Bajaj twins, ITC, Reliance, SBI Bank were the top gainers, up between 0.6 per cent and 2.4 per cent

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 0.6 pe0r cent and small-cap shares were trading 0.58 per cent higher. Image: Getty

New Delhi: The key Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, started trading in positive on Tuesday, thanks to gains across all sectors, though caution prevailed amid rising cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The BSE Sensex was up 198 points to 59,382, while the NSE Nifty rose to 17,670, up 45 points.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 0.6 pe0r cent and small-cap shares were trading 0.58 per cent higher.

Among the Sensex-30 constituents, NTPC, PowerGrid, M&M, Axis Bank, Maruti, Bajaj twins, ITC, Reliance, SBI Bank were the top gainers, up between 0.6 per cent and 2.4 per cent. HCL Technology, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Asian Paints, Ultratech Cement, meanwhile, were the top losers. On the Nifty, ONGC, IOC, BPCL were the additional gainers.

In the previous session, which was also the first trading day of 2022, the Sensex soared about 930 points to end at 59,183; while the Nifty jumped around 272 points to settle at 17,626.

Meanwhile, the Asian shares were mixed as Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.38 per cent, South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.37 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite index slipped as much as 0.61 per cent.

US markets setting record highs on the first trading day of 2022 is auspicious for global stock markets. The spectacular 271 point rally in Nifty and FIIs turning buyers with net purchases worth Rs 703 crore are bullish signals, V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

If the FIIs buying of Monday is an indication of their renewed interest in India, financials particularly the leading banks, are likely to continue the momentum witnessed in the previous session, he added.

However, the third wave of the pandemic is an area of concern even though the market's view is that it is unlikely to impact economic activity, Vijayakumar opined.

He further said the big headwind for markets globally is the rising inflation which may be further aggravated by the dislocations caused by the Omicron variant.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.27 per cent to $79.19 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Monday, with purchase of shares worth Rs 575.39 crore, exchange data showed.