Sensex, Nifty trade higher; Pharma, Realty stocks outperform; Ultratech Cement, Infosys shines

The indices were performing on a higher note during Tuesday's opening bell tracking positive global cues buoyed by the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine. At around 09.26 am, Sensex was trading at 44,272.63 up 122.91 points or 0.28% and Nifty 50 was performing at 12,990.10 above 21.15 points or 0.16%.

On the sectoral indices basis, BSE Realty outperforms by 2.01%, while BSE Healthcare surges by 1% - making them the top gaining sectors on exchanges. BSE Metal, BSE IT and BSE Utilities also were in the fast lane.

On broader market-basis, BSE Midcap and BSE Sensex Next 50 were among top picks, gaining by near 1% each.

Gainers on Sensex are - Ultratech Cement (+2.5%), followed by Infosys (+2.02%), Sun Pharma (1.81%), Bajaj Auto (+1.77%) and Power Grid (+1.6%).

Underperformers on Sensex were - Nestle India (-1.15%), followed by ONGC (-0.83%), M&M (-0.82%), Axis Bank and HDFC Bank recording to 0.3% drop each.

Stocks that will remain in focus today are - auto stocks, pharma stocks, banking stocks, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's Lab, TVS Motor, Cadila Healthcare, HCC, Tata Steel Long Products, India Grid Trust, ICICI Lombard and Hero Motocorp among others.

Asian stock markets reversed the previous day's downside where investors took profits at the end of a record-breaking month and were trading on a broadly positive note on Tuesday led by Covid-19 vaccine progress.

Japan's Nikkei surges 381.46 points or 1.44%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gains 232.99 points or 0.89%. Taiwan TSEC 50 Index tops 130 points or near 1%, while over 1% gain was recorded in Australia ASX All Ordinaries and Shanghai SE Composite Index. South Korea's KOSPI index also surged by 1.4%.