The positive trigger for the market now is the steadily declining fresh coronavirus cases and the rising recovery rates. The latest numbers indicate a continuation of this positive trend. The market is discounting progressive lifting of the widespread lockdowns starting in early June, said an analyst.
“Even though growth and earnings will be impacted in Q1, smart recovery can be expected in the subsequent quarters. Sectoral rotation and value buying are pushing up financials particularly banking stocks. The latest trends indicate that the stress in the banking system is not as bad as feared earlier,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“With progressive unlocking of the economy, credit growth is likely to pick up starting June improving the prospects for frontline financials. Market action is likely to be stock specific in the coming days with the market responding to Q4 numbers & likely trends.”
Within the first 15 minutes of trading, equity investors increased their wealth by Rs 2.19 lakh crore as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies soared to Rs 215.84 lakh crore.
How are the blue chip stocks doing?
After opening in the green, benchmark indices maintained their lead. At 9:31 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 559 points or 1.13 per cent at 50,140. NSE benchmark Nifty advanced 176 points or 1.18 per cent to 15,099.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, Hindalco Industries was the biggest gainer, up 4.63 per cent.
, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto, Grasim and Axis Bank were among other gainers.
Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the pack, down 1.72 per cent. Tata Consumer, Britannia and UPL were other losers in the pack.
FACTORS DRIVING MARKET
- Covid cases fall: The threat of Covid is coming down gradually with less daily caseload. However, the positivity rate still remains high, warned experts.
- No immediate rate cut: Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan on Monday reiterated his view that he does not expect interest rates to rise until next year, helping to reassure markets that the Fed will not tighten early
- Dollar fall: The dollar teetered near multi-month lows against European currencies. A weaker greenback makes investing in emerging markets like India more attractive.
Broader markets
Broader market indices were trading higher, in line with their headline peers in morning deals. Nifty Smallcap was up 1.39 per cent while Nifty Midcap rose 1.40 per cent. The broadest index on NSE, the Nifty 500, added 1.28 per cent.
Federal Bank, Hindustan Zinc, SAIL, Shilpa Medicare, Tanla Platforms and Strides Pharma Science were gainers from the space while Caplin Point Labs, Kaveri Seeds, Thyrocare Tech, Godrej Industries, Mphasis and Coromandel International were under selling pressure.
Global markets
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.13 per cent after a mixed session on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei rose as much as 2.2 per cent, while Hong Kong’s stocks opened up 0.87 per cent. China’s blue-chip CSI 300 index was slightly lower.
Australia’s benchmark rose 0.53 per cent, while Singapore stocks also recovered some losses, gaining 1.29 per cent after a 2 per cent fall on Monday as the country reported the highest number of local infections in months.
