Mumbai, India (BBN)-The Sensex and Nifty edged up in lackluster trading on Thursday, driven by GAIL and Tata Motors, while investors waited for more clarity in an uncertain global scenario.
At 2.55 pm, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 57.51 points or 0.21 per cent at 27,315.15 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 16.75 points or 0.2 per cent at 8,433.75, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Brokers said besides buying by foreign and domestic institutional investors and other participants, a firm trend in other Asian markets supported the uptrend.
Furthermore, expectations of encouraging earnings from few more blue-chip companies influenced the sentiment, they added.
Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas index gained the most by 2 per cent, consumer durables 1.02 per cent, PSU 0.91 per cent and infrastructure 0.66 per cent.
On the other hand, healthcare index was down 0.3 per cent, banking 0.07 per cent and realty 0.03 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were GAIL (+4.87 per cent), Tata Motors (+1.59 per cent), ONGC (+1.47 per cent), Bharti Airtel (+1.42 per cent) and ITC (+1.12 per cent), while the major losers were Lupin (-0.85 per cent), Axis Bank (-0.74 per cent), HDFC (-0.67 per cent), HDFC (-0.6 per cent) and HUL (-0.52 per cent).
Investors are waiting for a trigger in an environment that has many variables, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president of research at SMC Global Securities, referring to the corporate results season, the federal budget, and clarity on US President-elect Donald Trump’s policies.
“Some of the financial stocks have always traded at a premium and any kind of bad news or even an expectation of negative news leads to apprehension and which is why we can see a bit of profit-taking and also why these stocks are oscillating within a range,” said Jain.
Asian shares edged lower on Thursday and the dollar rebounded after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted that interest rates in the United States could rise quickly this year.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched 0.1 per cent lower in early trade.
The S&P 500 ended a choppy session slightly higher on Wednesday, helped by a rise in financials after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it “makes sense” to gradually lift interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 22.05 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 19,804.72, the S&P 500 gained 4 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 2,271.89 and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.93 points, or 0.31 per cent, to5,555.65.
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