Stock Market Enters New Year, Sensex Manages To Stay Above 72,200, Nifty Trading Almost Flat

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, ITC, and State Bank of India emerged as the prime gainers. On the down side, Hindustan Unilever, M&M, and Sun Pharma were among those trading in the red. 

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday, entered the New Year in red. The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 207.29 points to touch 72,032.97 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 46.65 points to hit 21,684.75.

At 9:54 AM, the Sensex was trading at 72,200.89, at a loss of 39.37 points, while the Nifty50 stood at 21,733.75, after gaining 2.35 points. 

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, ITC, and State Bank of India emerged as the prime gainers. On the down side, Hindustan Unilever, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, and Sun Pharma were among those trading in the red. 

In the broader markets, the indices were mostly trading in green. The Nifty Microcap 250 led the gains and was trading up by 0.94 per cent. Among others, the Nifty Smallcap 50 traded up by 0.52 per cent. Among the laggards, the Nifty 100 index dipped 0.08 per cent in the morning. 

Among specific stocks on the NSE, Tata Motors advanced 1.72 per cent in the morning, followed by Coal India, trading up by 1.58 per cent. 

Sectorally, the Nifty Media and Oil & Gas indices led the gains and were trading higher by 0.80 per cent and 0.59 per cent respectively. Among the rest, Financial Services and IT led the losses and dropped 0.23 per cent.

In the previous session on Friday, the two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, broke off the week’s rally and dropped during the day. The S&P BSE Sensex dipped 170 points to close at 72,240.26, while the NSE Nifty50 slipped over 50 points to settle at 21,726.45 at the end of the day. 

The domestic rupee depreciated 3 paise to touch 83.19 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, following a negative trend in domestic equities and demand for dollar from importers. Forex traders noted that the rupee traded in a narrow range as the support from the easing crude oil prices got negated by the strength of the American dollar in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign exchange, the Indian rupee opened at 83.18 against the greenback, and touched an early high of 83.15, before falling to 83.19 against the US dollar. In the last trading session on Friday, the Indian currency appreciated 4 paise to settle at 83.16 against the American currency.

 Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.14 per cent to $77.04 a barrel. According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,459.12 crore on Friday.