Bank, IT stocks lift Sensex amid firm global cues: Key factors impacting market

NEW DELHI: Buying in IT and banking sectors pushed benchmark indices on Thursday amid firm global cues as market participants keenly awaited the corporate earnings reports for the quarter ended March. Many analysts expect companies to report better results in Q4 compared with the previous quarter.

The market is likely to consolidate and respond to news on the economic impact of the second wave of Covid-19 infections and other fundamental factors, said an analyst.

“While the second wave is a cause of worry, its economic impact appears to be insignificant now. In April, the market is likely to be influenced by Q4 results. IT, leading financials, cement, metal, pharma, leading telecom companies and some FMCG firms are likely to report very good results. The market will discount these earnings in advance," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

FACTORS DRIVING MARKETS
Good News

• Another stimulus: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a sweeping use of government power to reshape the world's largest economy and counter China's rise in a $2 trillion-plus proposal that was met with swift Republican resistance.
• WTO ups growth forecast: The World Trade Organization slightly raised its growth forecast for global goods trade this year, but said the outlook was clouded by risks from the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and the possible emergence of vaccine-resistant strains.

Bad news

• Yields rise: 10-year US Treasuries, which had suffered their biggest selloff in a dozen years last quarter, remained under pressure and yields crept as high as 1.753 per cent, while the dollar stood just shy of a one-year peak on the yen at 110.685.

How are the blue chip stocks doing?
After opening in the green, benchmark indices maintained their gains. At 9:52 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 312 points or 0.63 per cent at 49,821. NSE benchmark Nifty followed, and rose 91 points or 0.62 per cent to 14,782.

“Nifty is struggling to keep above 14,800 which was yesterday's high. We need to get past 14,950 for an upward directional move to commence. If we can do that, we should achieve 15,300 as the next target. If we break 14,500, the markets will drift southwards and retest the recent lows of 14,200. Until either levels are not taken out, the Nifty will be sideways,” said Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.

In the 50-share pack Nifty, JSW Steel was the biggest gainer, up 3.51 per cent. HCL Tech, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, NTPC, Titan and Wipro were among other gainers.

HDFC Life Insurance was the top loser in the pack, down 1.45 per cent. Nestle India, HDFC Bank, Indian Oil, Power Grid, Divi’s Labs, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement were other losers in the pack.

Broader markets
Broader market indices were trading with gains, outperforming their headline peers in morning deals. Nifty Smallcap was up 1.34 per cent while Nifty Midcap advanced 0.76 per cent. The broadest index on NSE -- the Nifty 500 -- was up 0.65 per cent.

Bank of India, Hindustan Aeronautics, L&T Tech Services, Birlasoft, Shilpa Medicare and Future Retail were gainers from the space while UTI AMC, APL Apollo, JK Lakshmi Cement, Godrej Properties, Coromandel and Endurance Tech were under selling pressure.

Global markets
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent, a day after it dropped modestly. Japan's Nikkei rose 1.3 per cent as a survey showed big manufacturers' mood bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels.