Gains in auto and IT shares pushed the markets higher
Domestic stock markets started Tuesday's session on a positive note, extending gains after four consecutive sessions of gain. The S&P BSE Sensex index opened 173.07 points higher at 36,660.35, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark started the day at 10,802.85, up 39.2 points compared to its previous close. Gains in automobile and IT shares pushed the markets higher, however losses in metal shares and select state-run banking stocks limited the upside.
The markets gave up most of early gains in the first few minutes of trade. At 9:20 am, the Sensex traded 71.02 points - or 0.19 per cent - higher at 36,558.30, while the Nifty was up 6.05 points - or 0.06 per cent - at 10,769.70..
Top percentage gainers in the Nifty basket of 50 shares were Tata Motors, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco and Bajaj Finance, trading between 1.02 per cent and 2.66 per cent higher at the time.
On the other hand, Bharti Infratel, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Petroleum and ONGC, trading between 1.25 per cent and 2.03 per cent lower, were the top Nifty losers.
While Infosys, HDFC and Reliance Industries were the top boosts to the Sensex, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and SBI were the biggest drags.
Official data on industrial production and retail as well as wholesale inflation will be released this week. IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will kick off the earnings season by reporting its financial results for the April-June period.
Shares elsewhere in Asia moved lower as worries about a spike in COVID-19 cases in the US outweighed growing expectations of an economic rebound in China and a resurgent US services industry.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.02 per cent lower, while Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was down 0.56 per cent.
While Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI indices were down 0.26 per cent and 0.34 per cent respectively, China's Shanghai Composite barometer was up 1.00 per cent at the time.
The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were down 0.26 per cent, indicating a negative start for US markets on Tuesday.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended 1.59 per cent higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.78 per cent and the technology stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed up 2.21 per cent.
On Monday, the Sensex had closed 465.86 points - or 1.29 per cent - higher at 36,487.28, and the Nifty settled at 10,763.65, up 156.30 points - or 1.47 per cent - from its previous close.
