Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Mar 29: The Indian equity indexes opened higher on Tuesday, following the lead of global markets. The Nikkei 225 in Japan increased by 0.60 percent, the KOSPI in South Korea increased by 0.26 percent, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong increased by 0.39 percent. The Nasdaq index in the United States gained 1.31 percent overnight, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.27 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.71 percent.
Oil prices also fell today as Ukraine and Russia prepared for peace negotiations, as well as on concerns over a decline in fuel demand in China following the financial hub of Shanghai’s shutdown to halt a Covid-19 spike. Brent crude futures were trading at $111.30 a barrel, down $1.18 or 1.1 percent.
Trends on the Singapore Exchange’s Nifty Futures (SGX Nifty) likewise pointed to a gap up start for the domestic indices.
The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 210 points, or 0.37 percent, to 57,804, while the NSE Nifty advanced 64 points, or 0.37 percent, to 17,286 at 10:13 a.m.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were trading higher, with the Nifty Midcap 100 up 0.64 percent and small-cap stocks up 0.66 percent.
The National Stock Exchange’s 15 sector indicators were trading in the green, with 12 of them. Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Auto both outperformed the index, climbing 0.82 percent and 0.78 percent, respectively, to exceed the index.
On a stock-by-stock basis, SBI Life was the highest Nifty gainer, up 2.33 percent to 1,100 rupees. Among the gainers were HDFC, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Motors.
On the BSE, the overall market breadth was positive, with 1,796 shares advancing and 787 decreasing.
HDFC, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Airtel, Maruti and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers on the 30-share BSE index.
ITC, Tata Steel, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, and Nestle India, on the other hand, were all in the red.
On Monday, the Sensex rose 231 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 57,593, while the Nifty rose 69 points, or 0.40 percent, to 17,222.
