Sensex rises 427 pts, Nifty hovers near 18,200

The main equity indices turned range bound in mid afternoon trade. Metal and oil & gas stocks supported the indices. The Nifty traded below the 18,200 level.

At 14:32 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 427.38 points or 0.7% at 61,044.27. The Nifty 50 index gained 126.30 points or 0.7% at 18,182.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rallied 0.94% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.44%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1,724 shares rose and 1,705 shares fell. A total of 80 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

India reported 1,94,720 new cases in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate stood at 11.05%. The country`s active caseload currently stands at 9,55,319. Active cases stands at 2.65% of the total infections and recovery rate currently stands at 96.01%. There were 60,405 recoveries in the last 24 hours, which increases total recoveries to 34,630,536.

Economy:

The World Bank noted yesterday that India`s economic growth is expected to be 8.3% in the current financial year and 8.7% in 2022-23. The 8.3% estimate for the current fiscal is the same as what was projected by the World Bank in its last projection released in October 2021 even as it cut the global economic growth forecast.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index gained 1.28% to 11,626.55. The auto index saw buying after declining 0.19%.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 4.55%), Ashok Leyland (up 2.55%), TVS Motor Company (up 2.35%), Tata Motors (up 1.34%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 0.99%) were top gainers in auto space.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.589% as compared with 6.570% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 74.005, compared with its close of 73.9475 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 February 2022 settlement rose 0.18% to Rs 47,775.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.01% to 95.635.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2022 settlement rose 33 cents or 0.39% to $84.05 a barrel.

Global Markets:

European markets opened higher while Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday as U.S. markets rallied overnight as comments from the Fed chief appeared to reassure investors.

US stock indices rose on Tuesday as investors were relieved that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell`s testimony to Congress did not include any major surprises.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified before a Senate committee on Tuesday as part of his re-confirmation process. Powell said that he expected a normalized supply chain to help ease inflation pressures in 2022 but said the Fed would not be afraid to hike rates further than projected if inflation remains high.

Meanwhile, the World Bank Tuesday cut growth forecasts for the U.S., the Euro zone as well as China. It warned that high debt levels, rising income inequality and new coronavirus variants threatened the recovery in developing economies.

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