Sensex jumps 117 points in early trade, Nifty above 15,850; metal, IT stocks gain

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Indian benchmark equity indices opened higher on Friday, tracking Asian peers that were steady as US equity futures climbed after earnings optimism helped Wall Street edge toward an all-time high despite mixed economic data. At open, Sensex rose 117 points or 0.22% to 52,955, while the Nifty 50 advanced 31 points or 0.20% to 15,855.

“The legendry investor Howard Marks recently said – We don’t know where we go from here. But we should know where we are – This statement reflects the uncertainty & confusion about the future market trends, even among the best investor brains. It also cautions investors about the prevailing excessive valuations,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services

The potent combination of superabundant liquidity and ever-rising retail investor participation ( 2.45 million new Demat accounts being opened on an average every month during April-June) is providing great resilience to the market. Retail is buying every dip while FIIs are selling every rise. From a fundamental perspective, the retail reaction is emotional while the FII response is rational. Emotion can dominate reason in the short run. Big events like Zomato listing, AGR case verdict & RIL results can influence stocks & the market today, Vijayakumar added.

Gainers & losers

Top gainers & losers on Sensex

Sectoral strand

All sectoral indices opened in green. Nifty Metal, rallying nearly 1%, led the sectoral pack followed by Nifty IT, Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Realty and Nifty Pharma.

Broader market

The broader markets outperformed benchmark indices as the BSE MidCap index opened 0.51% higher at 23,154, while the BSE SmallCap index was trading at 26,570 rose 0.65%.

Market breadth was also positive as 1,383 shares advanced on the BSE, while 402 declined and 468 remained unchanged.

New listing

Shares of Zomato, one of the leading food services platforms in India in terms of the value of food sold, will list on the bourses today, 23 July 2021. The issue price is Rs 76 per share. The issue received a stellar response from investors, subscribing 38.25 times during July 14-16.

Earnings today

Reliance Industries, Ambuja Cements, JSW Steel, Federal Bank, United Spirits, Yes Bank, Artson Engineering, Atul, Aurionpro Solutions, Cigniti Technologies, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Dynamatic Technologies, Fineotex Chemical, Majesco, Nectar Lifesciences, Panacea Biotec, ABB Power Products and Systems India, SBI Cards and Payment Services, Seshasayee Paper & Boards, SKF India and Symphony will announce their quarterly earnings today.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Friday as investors monitored Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong after regulatory concerns resurfaced. Markets in Japan are closed on Friday for a holiday.

As per reports, Beijing is considering harsh penalties on ride-hailing giant Didi. The penalties being planned range from a fine likely bigger than the record $2.8 billion Alibaba paid earlier this year to even a forced delisting after Didi’s IPO last month.

Tech shares led U.S. stocks higher Thursday, despite an unexpected jump in jobless claims that resurfaced some concerns about the economy and sent bond yields lower. Investors jumped back into their favorite tech stocks as optimism about the sector grows ahead of big earnings reports next week for some of the largest names in the space.