Markets log mild gains; Sensex near 59,900, Nifty 50 over 17,800; IT underperforms, Banks emerge tops picks; Bajaj twins, HDFC Bank, Kotak top bulls

5 Jan 2022 , 09:55 AM

Mild gains were seen in Indian markets on Wednesday’s opening bell as investors traded at a cautious pace due to the rapid rise in the Omicron virus variant across the country. The third-quarter earnings for FY22 have taken focus as well. IT stocks are among top laggards ahead of major Q3 results announcement. While banking stocks outperformed, and also substantial gains were added from metal and oil & gas stocks.

The volatility stick continues to pertain to domestic equities even if they have shunned mixed performance of global cues.

At around 09.53 AM, Sensex was trading at 59,888.65 up by 32.72 points or 0.05%. The index has touched over the 59,900-mark as it clocked an intraday high of 59,942.84 earlier today.

Nifty 50 traded at 17,818.65 higher by 13.40 points or 0.08%. The index has touched the day’s high of 17,829.65.

In terms of sectoral indices, on BSE, the IT index nosedived over 450 points. While the Bankex index gained nearly 450 points. The Metal and Oil & Gas index surged 150 points and 115 points respectively.

Bulls on Sensex were – Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

Bears on Sensex were – HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys and TCS dipping between 1-2%.

On the global front, Asian markets traded mixed with South Korea’s KOSPI underperforming the most followed by China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng. Japan’s Nikkei traded flat, while Australian shares witnessed a marginal downside.

Risk tone was higher in Asian cues on the back of higher Treasury yields and strong dollar which has touched a five-year high against Japan’s yen. Global tech firms have pushed the greenback on the upside.

Overnight, on Wall Street, US stocks logged a mixed close as Dow Jones closes at all-time highs while Nasdaq closes lower by over 1.33% as rising yields sees profit-booking in technology stocks. Russell 200 index also closed higher by over 1.3% indicating the positive breadth of the mid-cap rally. Bond yields rise to 1.64% while oil prices see a sharp rise as consumption rises with supply chain disruptions adding to premium.