Buying was seen in Reliance Industries along with select IT and FMCG stocks. However, a sense of fatigue seeped into the market as the rally seems to be slowing down.
“It is important to appreciate the fact that even in 2021 the Bull run continues to be global. But in February India has outperformed most markets and this can be attributed to the optimism generated by the excellent budget. Bank Nifty’s outperformance stems from the better than expected Q3 numbers from banks,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Factors driving markets
- Stimulus is coming: Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package is expected to pass through Congress before March 15 even without Republican support.
- Reflation trade: The early action is coming after another day of so-called reflation trades around the world, in which global markets bid up stocks, oil and gold while US Treasury yields held near 11-month highs.
- Bitcoin rally: Bitcoin briefly passed $47,000 for the first time, a 20 per cent rise, before paring gains. It was last at $45,669, energising investors. The move came after Tesla said it invested in the digital currency in January.
How bluechips are doing
After opening in the green, benchmark indices maintained their lead. At 9:46 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 110 points or 0.21 per cent to 51,459. NSE benchmark Nifty followed and added 57.05 points or 0.38 per cent to 15,173.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, BPCL was the biggest gainer, up 3.31 per cent. IndianOil, Wipro, HDFC Life Insurance, UPL, SBI Life Insurance, Reliance Industries and ONGC were among other gainers.
Tata Motors was the top loser in the pack, down 2.37 per cent. SBI, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance and IndusInd Bank were other losers in the pack.
Broader markets
Broader market indices traded with gains underperforming their headline peers in morning trade. Nifty Smallcap was up 0.1 per cent while Nifty Midcap added 0.07 per cent. The broadest index on NSE — the Nifty 500 — was up 0.31 per cent.
Future Retail, Gujarat Gas, Fortis Healthcare, Dixon Technologies, Strides Pharma and IEX were among major gainers from the space while Vakrangee, Affle India, Karur Vysya Bank, Balkrishna Industries, Sun TV and Whirlpool were under selling pressure.
Global markets
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.32 per cent at 721.53 after climbing as high as 730.16 late last month.
Korea was an early riser, up 0.92 per cent while Chinese blue chips rose 0.49 per cent and Hong Kong nudged up 0.24 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei .N225 was up 0.36 per cent and e-mini futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.5 per cent.
Wall Street reached all-time closing highs on Monday as the Nasdaq Composite added nearly 1 per cent and the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 0.75 per cent.
