Hindu Business Line file photo

Mumbai, India (BBN) – The benchmark BSE Sensex ended higher by over 200 points ahead of release of key macroeconomic data tomorrow even as caution prevailed ahead of the earnings season.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 212.61 points or 0.72 per cent at 29,788.35 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty closed up 55.55 points or 0.61 per cent at 9,237, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Barring metal, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the positive zone. Among them, FMCG index gained the most by 1.56 per cent, followed by capital goods 1.48 per cent, PSU 1.45 per cent and infrastructure 1.42 per cent, while metal index was down 1.56 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were ITC (+3.16 per cent), Power Grid (+2.23 per cent), ICICI Bank (+1.89 per cent), L&T (+1.8 per cent) and State Bank of India (+1.63 per cent), while the major losers were Adani Ports (-4.78 per cent), Cipla (-1.66 per cent), Tata Steel (-1.44 per cent), Bajaj Auto (-0.54 per cent) and Reliance (-0.5 per cent).
Earnings are shaping as critical for investors to ascertain whether the double-digit rise in the shares’ value can be sustained. The broader NSE index has risen about 12.7 per cent so far this year, touching a record high of 9,273.90 last week.
Meanwhile, analysts expect shares to trade in a narrow range.
Infosys Ltd, the country’s second-largest software services company, is due to report results on Thursday, unofficially kicking off the reporting season for major companies.
“Market will remain in this range of 9,000-9,250 points on Nifty, watching out for earnings,” said Rakesh Tarway, head of research, Reliance Securities Ltd.
ASIAN MARKETS
Asian stocks fell in choppy trade on Tuesday as the political tinderbox in West Asia and the Korean Peninsula added to uncertainty over the looming French vote, pushing edgy investors into safer assets such as the yen and Treasuries.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan swung between gains and losses and was last down 0.4 per cent.
US stocks ended a choppy session slightly higher on Monday as gains in energy shares offset losses in financials ahead of quarterly corporate earnings later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.92 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 20,658.02, the S&P 500 gained 1.62 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,357.16 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.11 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 5,880.93.
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