Sensex Up 150 Points, Nifty Trades At 17,200; IT Stocks On The Rise

Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding about 1.10 per cent, followed by M&M, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, L&T, Reliance, SBI, and ICICI Bank

New Delhi: Key equity benchmarks — Sensex and Nifty — opened on a choppy note on Thursday, tracking weakness in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, SBI, and ICICI Bank amid a mixed trend in global markets.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 165 points (0.29 per cent) higher at 57,977. Similarly, the Nifty rose 23 points (0.14 per cent) to 17,237.

Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding about 1.10 per cent, followed by M&M, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, L&T, Reliance, SBI, and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, Wipro, PowerGrid, Dr Reddy’s, Tech Mahindra, and Titan were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index dropped by 90.99 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 57,806.49. And the broader Nifty slipped by 19.65 points or 0.11 per cent to close at 17,213.60.

Mid- and small-cap shares were traded mixed as the Nifty Midcap 100 index was down by 0.11 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.30 per cent.

Asian share markets got off to a listless start on Thursday as the spread of Omicron clouded what is the last trading day of the year for many exchanges around the globe.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Seoul and Tokyo were in losses.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a mixed note in the overnight session.

Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.7 per cent on Thursday, which left it with a modest gain of 4.6 per cent for the year and some way from a three-decade top reached in September.

S&P 500 futures eased 0.2 per cent in early trade, while Nasdaq futures lost 0.3 per cent.

Wall Street has had a stellar year on the back of upbeat corporate earnings and policy stimulus support. The S&P 500 is up by 28 per cent and looking at its strongest three-year performance since 1999.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.25 per cent to $79.41 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 975.23 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.