Sensex, Nifty50 gain for the second consecutive day aided by a rally in metal, realty stocks

• India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 ended higher after a flat opening on Tuesday on news that China is easing Covid-19 restrictions.
• The 30-stock Sensex closed 0.60% or 361 points higher at 60,927, while the 50-stock Nifty50 ended up 0.65% or 117 points at 18,132.
• Earlier yesterday, Sensex and Nifty50 bounced back with gains of 1.2%.
• Analysts say absence of any negative news from global markets is another reason for market closing in the green.

India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 ended higher after a flat opening on Tuesday on news that China is easing Covid-19 restrictions, giving a boost to expectations of demand recovery.

The 30-stock Sensex closed 0.60% or 361 points higher at 60,927, while the 50-stock Nifty50 ended up 0.65% or 117 points at 18,132.

Asian markets also ended largely in the green after China announced that it will end quarantine for inbound travelers while US markets were still closed due to holidays.

Analysts say absence of any negative news from global markets is another reason for market closing in the green.

“Market is driving some comfort from the absence of any negative news from the global front. Valuations are slightly looking better after the recent spate of corrections, hence investors are resorting to value buying in the run up to the current month F&O expiry,” said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research (retail) at Kotak Securities.

Earlier yesterday, Sensex and Nifty50 rebounded after plunging 1.6% on Friday. Both the benchmark indices rose 1.2% to regain their 60,000 and 18,000 levels, respectively. While pharma and healthcare stocks were gaining last week due to concerns of a Covid-19 resurgence, they declined on Monday while PSU banks rallied over 7%.

Crude oil prices continued to edge up after reports that Russia will increase exports. Brent crude oil prices gained 0.92% to $85.28 per barrel.

Three out of the top five gainers on the benchmark Nifty50 index were from the metal sector while three out of top five losers were from FMCG space.

Top gainers	Change	Top losers	Change
Hindalco Industries	6.33%	Hindustan Unilever	-0.92%
Tata Steel	5.86%	Apollo Hospitals	-0.86%
JSW Steel	4.47%	Nestle India	-0.61%
Tata Motors	2.43%	ITC	-0.43%
ONGC	2.48%	M&M	-0.23%

Source: NSE, Nifty50 on December 27, 2022

Sectorally, metal (4.23%), PSU Bank (1.29%), realty (1.25%) and media (1.19%) were amongst the top gainers, while FMCG (-0.41%) was the only losing sectoral index.

Shares of metal companies stole the limelight on Tuesday as they rallied sharply on hope of demand recovery in China after the country loosened its Covid restrictions. Also, reports that Indian steel mills are eyeing price hikes in January due to improving global cues added to the excitement.

Sectoral indices	% change
Nifty Metal	4.23%
Nifty PSU Bank	1.29%
Nifty Realty	1.25%
Nifty Media	1.19%
Nifty IT	0.88%
Nifty Auto	0.86%
Nifty Pvt Bank	0.61%
Nifty Bank	0.54%
Nifty Fin Service	0.44%
Nifty Pharma	0.14%
Nifty FMCG	-0.41%

Foreign institutional investors (FII) were net sellers on Tuesday pulling out ₹867.65 crore while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought ₹621.81 crore.


SEE ALSO: PSUs stage a comeback in 2022, and the future looks healthy, say analysts
After a round of musical chairs, Musk, Gates and Adani are among 2022’s top 5 billionaires
Best and worst performing sectoral stock market indices in 2022