Sensex tops 58,000-mark; Nifty gains 55 points
Sensex surpassed the 58,000-mark as it jumped 200 points or 0.35% to 58,053 and the Nifty 50 was quoting at 17,289 advancing 55 points or 0.32%.
Domestic benchmark equity indices opened higher on Friday as Asian stocks were trading steady after cyclicals led Wall Street to a record and the dollar fell ahead of a U.S. jobs report. In opening trades, Sensex surpassed the 58,000-mark as it jumped 200 points or 0.35% to 58,053 and the Nifty 50 was quoting at 17,289 advancing 55 points or 0.32%.
“We know from experience that markets can surprise – both on the upside and downside. Greed and fear can cause overreaction on the upside and downside. From the valuation perspective, now we are in the over-valued zone; but excesses can sustain in a ferocious bull market like the present one. So the only option before long-term investors is to remain invested and occasionally book some profits and move money to safe fixed-income assets. It is possible that by the end of this financial year Nifty may be around the present level or lower than that,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Gainers & losers
Top gainers & losers on the Sensex.
Sectoral strand
All sectoral indices on the NSE opened higher. Nifty Realty index led the sectoral pack with gains of 0.57%, while Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal, Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Pharma indices rose up to 0.48%.
Broader markets
The broader markets mirrored the gains in the benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap opened higher at 24,408 advanced 110 points or 0.46%. While the BSE Smallcap index rose 158 points or 0.58% to 27,353.
Market breadth was positive as 1,671 shares advanced compared to 569 declining whereas 150 remained unchanged.
Economy
On the macro front, India’s exports jumped 45.17% to $33.14 billion in August as against $22.83 billion in the same month last year, according to the commerce ministry’s provisional data. Imports in August rose 51.47% to $47.01 billion, as against $31.03 billion in the corresponding month of 2020. The trade deficit in August 2021 was $13.87 billion, compared to $8.2 billion in the year-ago period.
Global markets
Overseas, Asian stocks rose on Friday as investors look ahead to the release of a private survey on China’s services sector activity in August.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out record finishes on Thursday, while the Dow also posted a modest gain, as higher commodity prices helped energy names recover ground and the latest jobs data left investors unfazed about existing positions.
The US trade deficit narrowed more than expected in July as imports declined likely because of shortages and a shift in domestic spending from goods to services. The Commerce Department said on Thursday that the trade gap fell 4.3% to USD 70.1 billion. Data for June was revised to show the deficit at USD 73.2 billion instead of USD 75.7 billion as previously reported.
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000 for the week ended August 28, the lowest level since mid-March 2020.