Domestic benchmark equity indices were on a roll today backed by supportive global cues and encouraging macroeconomic data. The GST collections for the month of November came in at Rs 1.31 lakh crore making it the second-highest since implementation. A smart up-tick in manufacturing activity reading at 57.6 in November up from 55.9 in October further aided the market sentiment. At close, the Sensex was up 619 points or 1.09% at 57,684, and the Nifty was up 183 points or 1.08% at 17,166.
“After the sharp sell-off in the global markets yesterday, Indian equities reversed its course following recovery in global markets and strong domestic GDP data. India’s Q2 GDP recorded a growth of 8.4% as economic activity moved towards normalcy after the impact of the second wave. Though the Fed chair’s comment on speeding up the pace of the bond-buying taper plan kept investors cautious along with the concerns of Omicron, the global markets recovered sharply today,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Sectorally, barring Nifty Pharma (down 1.62%) all other indices ended in the green. The Nifty Metal index was shining bright with gains of 2.32%. Whereas Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty IT, and Nifty Realty indices rallied anywhere between 1.1-1.9%. On the other hand, the Nifty FMCG index ended flat with marginal gains of 0.19%.
The volatility gauge India VIX cooled off by 8.12% to 19.44 levels.
The broader market ended mixed with BSE MidCap mirroring gains of benchmark indices as it settled at 24,934 level up by 247 points or 1%, while the BSE SmallCap index was marginally up by 76 points or 0.27% to 28,013.
Bulls were in charge of the markets as 1,909 shares advanced compared to 1,347 declining and 136 were unchanged.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo ended with gains.
Stock exchanges in Europe too were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.