Benchmark stock market indices opened higher on Wednesday, driven by a rally in IT stocks which has been under pressure for the past couple of trading sessions.
The market was also helped by a rise in banking and energy sector stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 144.53 points to 76,644.16, while the NSE Nifty50 added 16.15 points to 23,192.20 as of 9:30 AM.
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said that with only five more days to go for Trump’s inauguration as US president, soon there will be clarity on Trump’s actions and its likely impact on the markets. It appears that the dollar and US bond yields have peaked for now.
“There are reports that Trump will begin with low tariff hikes putting pressure on major exporters to the US, even while leaving room for negotiations. If this scenario plays out, further rise in dollar and US bond yields will be arrested. Till then, the FII selling will continue, preempting any rally in the market,” he added.
Nifty IT rebounded and gained 0.49%, setting a positive tone for the market.
Nifty Midsmall Services showed strong performance, rising 1.21%, while Nifty Realty climbed 1.04%. Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom advanced 1.07%, and Nifty PSU Bank gained 0.70%. Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty Metal both moved up by 0.70% and 0.66% respectively.
The banking sector remained firm with Nifty Bank rising 0.40% and Nifty Private Bank adding 0.30%. Nifty Auto gained 0.20%, while Nifty Financial Services showed a modest increase of 0.06%.
On the declining side, Nifty Midsmall Healthcare led the losses with a drop of 1.57%, followed by Nifty Healthcare Index falling 1.48%. Nifty Pharma declined 1.38%, while Nifty FMCG slipped 0.66%. Nifty Consumer Durables fell 0.30%, and Nifty Financial Services Ex-Bank marginally decreased by 0.01%. Nifty Media remained unchanged at 0.00%.
“Market will witness lots of stock-specific action in response to the Q3 results. Market has been rewarding performers delivering better-than-expected results and punishing those delivering worse-than-expected results. Therefore, look out for performers,” said Vijayakumar.