Sensex climbs 550 pts to 80,800; Nifty above 24,400; Bank, Oil gain over 1% each

Benchmark Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were trading higher on Tuesday.

At 11 AM, the BSE Sensex was up 486 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 80,734.64, while the Nifty 50 was at 24,412, higher by 136 points, or 0.56 per cent.

After opening bell, 18 out of the 30 constituent stocks of the BSE Sensex were trading higher, while the rest were in the red. Gains were led by Adani Ports & SEZ (up 2.50 per cent), followed by JSW Steel, HDFC Bank, SBI, and Tata Steel, while losses were capped by ITC (down 2.85 per cent), followed by Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Titan.

On the Nifty 50, 36 out of the 50 stocks were trading higher, with gains led by JSW Steel (up 2.39 per cent), followed by Shriram Finance, Adani Ports & SEZ, HDFC Bank, and ONGC. On the flip side, losses were capped by ITC (down 2.37 per cent), followed by bharti Airtel, Tata Consumer, Sun Pharma, and Power Grid Corp.

Across sectors, the FMCG sector was the top loser, dragging 1.33 per cent, followed by the Consumer Durables, Pharma and Healthcare indices, while rest of the sectoral indices were trading in the green.

The PSU Bank index was the top gainer, climbing 1.38 per cent, followed by the Metal, Realty and Oil indices. The Nifty bank and Financial Services indices were also trading higher.

In the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 was higher by 0.45 per cent, followed by the Nifty Smallcap 100, which was ahead by 0.40 per cent.

With two benchmark indices on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, scaled fresh record highs overnight, sentiment in the domestic market is likely to be driven by anticipation of any policy and liquidity management action by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, whose decision is set to be announced on Friday, December 6.

However, investors are expected to continue engaging in stock specific action as the overall global cues remain positive.

In another development, India’s Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Monday that India’s potential GDP growth is in the range of 6.5-7 per cent and the country should be able to achieve it on the back of things that have already been done already in the past 10 years. READ MORE

Moreover, the government is likely to take fresh measures to ensure that economic growth in the second half (October–March) of FY25 is much better than the seven-quarter low growth of 5.4 per cent in the July–September period, economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth indicated on Monday.

Separately, the domestic equity markets are grappling with a pronounced slump in secondary share sales. Block deal activity in November fell to its lowest since April this year, with transactions totalling Rs 25,669 crore, a sharp decline from the monthly average of nearly Rs 57,000 crore seen during the first 10 months of 2024.

Tracking the overnight gains on Wall Street, Asia-Pacific markets were also trading higher on Tuesday.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.66 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 1.7 per cent higher, and the Topix added 1.29 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.53 per cent and the Kosdaq advanced 1.75 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was lower by 0.35 per cent, while the CSI 300 was down 0.43 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite was ahead by 0.03 per cent.

Meanwhile, stocks in the US and Europe were mixed on Monday, while the dollar gained versus the euro, amid political turmoil in France and positive signals for the US economy.

French equities finished little changed in choppy trading after politicians there planned a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a move likely to cause the French government to collapse this week. Broader European shares pulled back on the news but still finished the day up 0.66 per cent on the day.

In the US, data showed manufacturing contracted at a moderate pace in November, with orders growing for the first time in eight months and factories facing significantly lower prices for inputs. More economic data is expected this week, including the key monthly jobs report on Friday.

Wall Street stocks were mixed, with a boost from technology shares such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Amazon.com Inc, which gained 3.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, although Intel fell 0.5 per cent after the faltering American chipmaker announced CEO Pat Gelsinger’s retirement.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29 per cent to 44,782, the S&P 500 rose 0.24 per cent to 6,047 and the Nasdaq Composite rose about 1 per cent to 19,403.

The euro sank around 0.75 per cent to $1.0498, as the dollar got a boost over the weekend as US President-elect Donald Trump warned BRICS emerging nations against trying to replace the greenback with any other currency.

Global stocks edged higher, leaving the MSCI All-World index up about 0.3 per cent.

The Federal Reserve is in focus and Friday’s monthly payrolls report could be the deciding factor when policymakers consider whether to cut rates again on Dec. 18.

A number of Fed officials are due to speak this week, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday. Traders put the odds of a quarter-point reduction at about 60 per cent.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday he was inclined to cut the benchmark interest rate as monetary policy

remained restrictive enough to keep putting downward pressure on inflation, while the labor market was roughly in balance, something the Fed wants to maintain.

In Treasury markets, the yield on benchmark US 10-year notes was flat on the day at 4.194 per cent.

That has left the dollar index, which measures the currency against six others, up 0.33 per cent at 106.39, having gained 1.8 per cent in November.

In Asia, mainland Chinese shares closed up 0.8 per cent, following a robust reading in a private manufacturing survey on Monday.

Gold slipped 0.6 per cent to $2,637 an ounce, under pressure from the strong dollar, after sliding more than 3 per cent in November, its worst monthly performance since September 2023.

Oil prices were steady, as optimism around strong factory activity in China was largely offset by concerns the Fed will not cut U.S. rates again at its December meeting.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 1.88 per cent to $95,619.00.