Sensex Today: Equity markets ended on flat note in the volatile session on January 24. Key indices Nifty50 closed flat at 18,118 levels, whereas the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 60,978 levels, up 37-odd points or 0.06 per cent. Throughout the day, the benchmark index the S&P BSE Sensex, however, soared over 300 points to a high of 61,266 and low of 60,849, down 92 points, while Nifty50 hit day’s high and low of 18,201, and 18,078, respectively.
Broader markets, too, turned tepid as Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices declined up to 0.3 per cent. Volatility gauge, India VIX, gained marginally to 0.2 per cent.
Sectorally, Nifty Auto index was the best sectoral performer as it gained 1.2 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Realty indices, on the contrary, was the worst sectoral performer as it tanked up to 1.3 per cent.
Among individual stocks, Tata Motors traded higher for the third straight day as shares surged 4 per cent, amid heavy volumes ahead of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) third quarter results.
Besides, shares of Axis Bank slipped 2 per cent, on profit booking, after the bank reported 62 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in standalone net profit to Rs 5,853 crore for Q3FY23.
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “A significant trend in the global equity market now is the outperformance of the mother market US. Hope of a soft landing for the US economy is increasing and the market is responding to this. The S&P 500 is up by 5.12 percent in January till date. The tech heavy Nasdaq is up by 8.5 percent and this particularly is good news for Indian IT companies, which are likely to do well now. The positive sentiments are favourable for a pre-budget rally, too. The ongoing momentum has the potential to break the 17800-18200 range on the upside. The stellar performance of the banking segment stands out in this Q3 results season. Remain invested in banking stocks, particularly the high quality names, in spite of the run up in prices."
Global Cues
Markets in the Asia-Pacific traded higher as Lunar New Year holidays were observed in most of the region. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.17 per cent in morning trade, while the Nikkei 225 rose 1.29 per cent in Japan. At 7:20 AM, SGX Nifty was 81 points higher at 18,227 levels.
Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore are closed for a holiday.
Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite rallied 2 per cent in the US; S&P 500 1.2 per cent; and Dow Jones 0.76 per cent. Investors will track US’ manufacturing and services PMI data, due to be released later today.
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