The Delta variant scare, which led to the market sell-off on Monday on Wall Street, appears to have died down. Anthony Fauci’s statement yesterday that vaccines are effective against all variants is reassuring, said an analyst.
“Results declared recently show pressure in financials like banks, insurance firms and NBFCs like
. But these pressures are likely to be short-lived. ‘ excellent numbers indicate that there are pockets of business coming out with flying colours in these pandemic times,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
How are the bluechips doing?
After opening in the green, benchmark indices maintained their lead. At 9.40 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 473 points or 0.91 per cent to 52,671.95. NSE benchmark Nifty advanced 136 points or 0.87 per cent to 15,768.25.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, Bajaj Finance was the biggest gainer, up 3.40 per cent. Hindalco, Wipro, JSW Steel, ONGC, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank were among other gainers.
Asian Paints was the top loser in the pack, down 1.56 per cent. Power Grid, Cipla, HCL Tech, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Britannia, Shree Cement and TCS were other losers in the pack.
FACTORS DRIVING MARKETS
Currency market cautious: Resilience in the US dollar, which traded near recent multi-month peaks early in the Asia session, suggests currency markets are still pretty cautious. The dollar index sat at 92.812, off a three-month peak of 93.194 and the euro was steady just above recent lows at $1.1791.
Bond yields: Yields climbed partly due to positive corporate earnings, as investors largely overlooked apprehension about the Delta coronavirus variant and inflation and bought risky assets.
Broader markets
Broader market indices were trading higher outperforming their headline peers in morning trade. Nifty Smallcap was up 1.19 per cent, while Nifty Midcap rose 0.75 per cent. Broadest index on NSE, Nifty 500 was up 0.77 per cent.
Indiabulls Housing Finance, Hindustan Aeronautics, Oil India, Sonata Software, TV18 Broadcast and Lux Industries were gainers from the space while CDSL, CEAT, Avanti Feeds, Adani Total Gas, Polycab India and ICICI Securities were under selling pressure.
Global markets
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan followed Wall Street and rose 1 per cent with broad gains from Sydney to Seoul and Hong Kong. Japanese markets are closed until Monday.
