Sensex jumps 100 points at open, Nifty tops 15,800; IT, auto stocks lead

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Domestic equity benchmarks inched higher amid volatility on Friday led by gains in IT and auto stocks. At 9:50am, Sensex was at 52,731.46, up 78.39 points or 0.15%, while Nifty added 32.25 points or 0.20% at 15,810.70.

“While ruling out directional downsides, we were keen to see a close above 15767 yesterday. In fact, almost all dips to this level, post the opening hour’s volatility, found buying, indicating a positive undercurrent. However, given the low VIX environment, it was important to take down key resistances, to maintain momentum. This is something Nifty failed to do yesterday on approach to 15810, reducing the chances of an upside-gapped opening today. The soft opening thereof today would attract bargain hunting in the 15735-15700 with an eye on 15890-970, but a slippage into the 15700-650 region could mean that 15767 will end up as a lid for the day,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

Sectoral indices on the NSE were mixed. Nifty IT index rallied 0.65% followed by the Nifty Auto index rose 0.47%. While Nifty Pharma, Nifty Metal were up in the range of 0.18-0.38%.

Nifty FMCG was down 0.17%, whereas Nifty Realty, Nifty Bank were the laggards losing around 0.10%.

Broader markets

The broader market opened flat mirroring the benchmark indices. BSE MidCap index rose 0.07% to 22,983 whereas the BSE SmallCap index settled at 26,687 rallying as much as 0.32%.

Overall market breadth was positive as 1,485 shares advanced compared to 960 declined while 105 remained unchanged.

Earnings today

Britannia Industries, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, UPL, Bandhan Bank, Indian Oil Corporation, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Allied Digital Services, Asahi India Glass, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Birla Tyres, Blue Dart Express, Chemfab Alkalis, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, LT Foods, Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Exide Industries, Fairchem Organics, Finolex Industries, Gravita India, HIL, Hindustan Organic Chemicals, Jindal Saw, JK Paper, JSW Energy, Kansai Nerolac Paints, KEC International, Dr Lal PathLabs, Macrotech Developers, Marico, Nazara Technologies, PI Industries, Rossari Biotech, Shriram Transport Finance, Sundaram-Clayton, Sunteck Realty, V-Guard Industries, and Zydus Wellness are scheduled to release their quarterly earnings today.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading mostly lower on Friday amid escalating coronavirus concerns.

The surge in the Covid infections worldwide has been relentless, with spiking cases in the US and Japan so much so that the world’s third-largest economy is set to expand the state of emergency on Friday to Tokyo’s three neighboring prefectures of Osaka, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.

Japan’s industrial output jumped 6.2% in June, sharply rising from a 6.5% drop in May. June retail sales rose 0.1% from a year earlier.

US stocks rose to record levels on Thursday as investors shrugged off economic data pointing to slower-than-expected growth.

The US economy expanded 6.5% annualized in the second quarter, according to government data released Thursday. The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits slid last week. Jobless claims dropped by 24,000 to 400,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.