Broader market also saw buying but volatility indicators also edged higher again, indicating nervousness in the market. Most shares are trading at frothy valuation that is keeping investors on toes.
“Liquidity continues to drive markets. With two more days to go in this month, FII inflows are likely to cross Rs 60,000 crore in December on top of the Rs 60,300 crore that came in November. India’s performance is in line with the performance of other emerging market peers but valuations are much higher,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“Mid-small-caps which have outperformed during the last 6 months have some more steam to go up. Also the Bank Index is still 5 per cent below its peak. So, some more catching up is possible there as the Q3 results from private sector banking majors will be good. That said, aggressive buying at peak valuations is not advisable.”
Factors driving markets
-More pandemic aid?: The Democratic-led US House of Representatives voted in favour of President Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks on Monday, sending the measure on to an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.
-Vaccine deployment gathers pace: The distribution of an initial 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech across the European Union will be completed by September.
How are bluechips doing
After opening in the green, benchmark indices strengthened their lead. At 9.52 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 322.90 points or 0.68 per cent to 47,676.65. NSE benchmark Nifty followed and climbed 82.10 points or 0.59 per cent to 13,955.30.
“We have hit 13,900 this morning and the 14,000 mark should now be a mere formality to achieve. There is always a possibility for the markets to shy away from that level since it is a psychological whole number! If we sustain 14,000, we should look out for 14,200. During the recent fall, the Nifty has made a good base at the 13,100-13,200 level. Until that does not break, we are in bullish territory,” said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, IndusInd Bank was the biggest gainer, up 3.69 per cent. Wipro, HDFC, HCL Tech, ITC, Grasim Industries, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Tech Mahindra were among other gainers.
JSW Steel was the top loser in the pack, down 0.89 per cent. NTPC, Power Grid, Nestle India, Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Eicher Motors and Reliance Industries were other losers in the pack.
Broader markets
Broader market indices also traded with gains trading in line with their headline peers in morning trade. Nifty Smallcap gained 0.65 per cent while Nifty Midcap rose 0.39 per cent. Broadest index on NSE, Nifty 500 was up 0.48 per cent.
Union Bank of India, RBL Bank, Tata Chemicals, Sterlite Tech, Vakrangee and Wockhardt were among major gainers from the space while Century Textiles, Ircon International, Suven Pharma, Whirlpool, Godrej Properties and Escorts were under selling pressure.
Global markets
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.46 per cent. Australian stocks rose 0.55 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei leapt 1.63 per cent to its highest since August 1990, while shares in China rose 0.1 per cent.
Futures for the S&P 500 added 0.32 per cent.
