The markets began the New Year on the triumphant note, with the benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty rebounding and closing in the green on the first day of 2019, led by the banking and financial sector gains.
The Sensex rose 186.24 points or 0.52%, to close at 36254.57 on Tuesday, while the Nifty ended at 10910.10, up 47.55 points or 0.44%, over the previous close. On Monday, Sensex had ended the session eight points down at 36068.33, while the Nifty ended 2018 at 10862 points.
The top gainers on the 30-share Sensex on Tuesday were Bharti Airtel, HDFC, SBI, YES Bank and ICICI Bank, while the laggards were M&M, Tata Steel, ONGC, Hindustan Unilever and IndusInd Bank. Shares of some auto companies traded lower after the December vehicle sales data was released.
Early in the session, the indices came under pressure on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and surging global crude oil prices. However, a strengthening rupee capped further losses in the equity markets.
Among the sectoral indices, realty rose 2.21%, followed by telecom which was up 1.46%. Finance, bankex and consumer durables also gained.
The market started the new year falling 55 points to 10807 after opening at 10881. In the second half, it began a sharp rally, which took it up to 10923, covering 116 points from the day's low, and closed the day at 10910, up 47 points. The Nifty is within striking distance from the last resistance after the previous high near 11000. The late sprint by the Nifty was aided mainly by banking stocks with Bank of Baroda, Union Bank, adding 4% each, Canara Bank and Indian Bank 3% each. Bharti Airtel and HDFC rose 2% each.
Sameet Chavan, chief analyst-technical and derivatives, Angel Broking, said the markets kicked off the day marginally higher in the absence of participation from the global peers. For the major part of the day the index remained under tremendous pressure, and in the process Nifty slipped towards the 10800 mark. "However, despite being the outlier our markets saw good buying at lower levels and in fact, due to complete rush in some of the individual pockets, the Nifty went on to close around day's high by surpassing the 10900 mark. We will not be surprised to see Nifty opening with an upside gap tomorrow beyond the key resistance level of 10924," he said.