Stock Market Updates: Sensex Climbs Over 400 Points, Nifty Touches 17,900. Banks, Realty Top Performers

ICICI bank, Maruti, ITC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, TCS, Bajaj Twins, and Axis Bank remained the top Sensex gainers

New Delhi: Markets opened strong on Monday extending gains from the previous session with the 30-share equity benchmark Sensex climbing 459 points to touch 60,203 levels, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,937, higher by 124 points.

ICICI Bank, TCS, HDFC Bank are among the top performers in the index surging between 0.8-1.6 per cent. Banking and realty stocks kept with their momentum. Of the 30 shares in Sensex, ICICI Bank, Maruti, ITC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, TCS, Bajaj Twins, and Axis Bank were among the top gainers.

BSE Realty index added 2 percent on the back of surge in Oberoi Realty, Brigade Enterprises, Sobha

On the Nifty, UPL, Hero Moto Corp, and HDFC Life were the additional gainers. Meanwhile, Wipro, Asian Paints, and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), that rose 1.8 per cent, said its Board will consider a buyback proposal on 12 January. The Board of the Mumbai-based company is scheduled to meet on 12 January to approve and take on record the financial results of the company for the third quarter.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services told PTI, "The record-high inflation of 5 per cent in the Eurozone, following the inflation trends in the US, is emerging as a major challenge to central banks globally. There is now a clear possibility of three rate hikes by the Fed in 2022 with ECB and other leading central banks, including in emerging markets, shifting to tightening mode.

Meanwhile, Asian bourses were trading mixed ahead of the US inflation data. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market, as they bought shares worth Rs 496.27 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.

Oil prices remain steady after recording the biggest weekly gain in a month as supplies resumed in Libya and Kazakhstan, and investors reviewed China's handling of its first community spread of omicron.

Meanwhile, the country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $1.466 billion to $633.614 billion in the week ended December 31, RBI data showed. In the previous week ended December 24, the reserves dipped by $587 million to $635.08 billion. It touched a life-time high of $642.453 billion in the week ended September 3, 2021.

Indian economy may grow at 9.2 per cent in the year to 31 March on back of agriculture, manufacturing, mining and construction, the government’s statistics office said, rebounding from a 7.3 per cent contraction in the previous year.