Indian benchmark indices ended higher for the third straight session on Tuesday, following firm cues from global peers, while solid gains in index heavyweights such as RIL, SBI, Titan, and NTPC also supported the upmove in the domestic share market. Investors seemed to have shrugged off rising Omicron cases with a renewed appetite for risk amid optimism that the latest variant of Covid-19 would have a limited impact on the economy.
Extending gains for the third straight session, the BSE Sensex ended 672 points, or 1.14%, higher at 59,856 on January 4. In a similar trend, the NSE Nifty surged 179 points, or 1.02%, to settle at 17,805. Continuing last year’s stellar rally, Sensex has gained 1,600 points in the first two days of the calendar year 2022, making investors richer by ₹4.76 lakh crore during this period.
In line with the benchmark indices, the broader markets also ended higher with marginal gain. The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.05% and 0.39%, respectively.
The overall market breadth on the BSE was positive, with 2,016 stocks advancing against 1,594 declining shares, while 144 remained unchanged.
On the sectoral front, power and PSU indices emerged as top performers, while healthcare and realty declined the most.
Top gainers and losers
The top gainer of the BSE Sensex pack was state-run power utility company NTPC, which ended 5.5% higher on Tuesday. The other top performers on the BSE Sensex pack include Reliance Industries, Power Grid Corporation of India, State Bank of India, Titan Company, which rose over 2% each.
On the losing side, pharma major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries topped the BSE Sensex’s losers chart by falling 1.21%. Some of the other notable losers include IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, and Infosys.
Shares in news
HP Adhesives: Shares of the recently listed adhesive company closed 5% higher on Tuesday. The stock was locked in the upper circuit for the sixth consecutive session, hitting a fresh new high after making a strong market debut last week.
Marico: Shares of consumer goods company dropped 2.2% after it released a business update for December quarter. The personal product's maker posted double digits revenue growth in Q3 FY22, while it expects volume growth to be flat during the October-December period of 2021.
Hinduja Global Solutions: The share price of business process management (BPM) services provider surged 10% after it unveiled a bonus issue plan. The company in an exchange filing said that its board will meet on January 06 to consider a proposal for the bonus issue of equity shares.
Sugar stocks: Shares of sugar companies such as Balrampur Chini Mills, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries, and EID Parry (India) surged up to 10% on the back of a spurt in volume trade amid a strong outlook.
Alembic Pharma: Shares of drugmaker climbed 4% after it received the final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for doxycycline hyclate delayed-release tablets.
Yes Bank: Shares of private sector lender closed 3.6% higher after it reported improvement in loan and deposits numbers during the quarter ended December 2021.
Wockhardt: Shares of biopharma firm jumped 6% after the company said that its board would consider fund-raising options on January 6.
Asian markets track Wall Street rally
Most of the Asian stocks, barring China, ended higher on Tuesday following firm cues from Wall Street which finished on a positive note on its first trading day of 2022. The concerns that a spike in Omicron infections could derail global economic recovery restricted markets’ gain.
Australia’s ASX 200 index emerged as the top performer in the regional market by surging 1.95%. The ASX 200 index was followed by Japan’s Nikkei 225, which rallied 1.77%.
In a similar fashion, the Straits Times Index in Singapore surged 1.5%, while Taiwan Weighted Index jumped 1.4%. Thailand’s SET Composite gained 0.76% and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite rose 0.45%.
Bucking the trend, China’s Shanghai Composite index settled 0.2% lower, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong and South Korea’s KOSPI ended marginally lower, paring early losses.
In the overnight trade, U.S. stocks ended with strong gains on the first trading day of 2022, supported by a rally in electric car maker Tesla and IT giant Apple. The Dow Jones index added 0.7%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6%, while the tech-heavy- NASDAQ Composite surged 1.2%.
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