Sensex Jumps 327 pts, Nifty Near 18,200 in First Session of the Year; Tata Steel Rallies 6%

Sensex Today: Indian shares opened marginally higher on Monday, the first trading session of 2023, helped by an uptick in metals. The BSE Sensex swinged to a low of 60,765 during the day before gaining strength to close 327 points higher at 61,168. Though this was off the day’s high of 61,223. The NSE Nifty touched a low of 18,086 but bounced back to close at 18,197, up 92 points.

Overall, the trade was undecisive throughout the session due to a lack of global triggers with most markets being closed on account of the new year holiday.

Tata Steel (up 5.8 per cent), Tata Motors (up 1.8 per cent), ICICI Bank(1.5 per cent), M&M (1 per cent) and Reliance (1 per cent) emerged as the top Sensex winners. Hindalco and ONGC were the additional gainers on Nifty, up around 3 per cent each.

On the flip side, Asian Paints, Titan, Tech M, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Nestle, HUL, Divi’s Labs, Bajaj Auto and Hero Moto were the top index losers, which shed up to1.4 per cent.

The broader markets outweighed the gains in the Sensex benchmark with the BSE Smallcap and Midcap indices closing 0.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent higher, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty metal index was the top performer of the day, which jumped 2.4 per cent after global brokerage Jefferies changed its stance on the sector to ‘positive’.

Other sectoral gainers included Nifty Realty, PSB and financial services while Nifty Pharma and consumer durables underperformed and lost up to 0.4 per cent.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Investors welcomed the new year on a high note with data showing strengthening domestic business conditions. India’s manufacturing PMI rose to 57.8 in December from 55.7 in the previous month, with new orders rising at the fastest pace since February 2021. Metal stocks led the surge following reports of China raising export duties to support their domestic demand, which is positive for India. We expect 2023 to be a year to buy equities in anticipation that a large part of the global recession has already been factored in the market.”

Global Cues

Some markets in Europe rose in Monday’s trade with STOXX Europe 600, DAX and CAC 40 gaining 0.8-1.5 per cent. Markets in London and Dublin were meanwhile closed.

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