Dalal Street starts new year on strong note

Activity will, however, pick up later this week as the US Federal Reserve will release the December policy meeting minutes on Wednesday, which investors will parse through for clues on the direction of interest rates. The US will also release the December jobs report on Friday, seen as a key factor for the American central bank’s next policy move.

The Sensex closed at 61,167, up 327.05 points or 0.54% from the previous close. The Nifty advanced 92 points or 0.51% to close at 18,197.

Agencies

For the Nifty to extend gains, the index must breakout above 18,265, a key hurdle, which was also last week’s high, said Ruchit Jain, lead research analyst at 5paisa.com. Above this level, the index could witness advance to 18,330 and 18,460, he said.

The Nifty Metal index scaled a new lifetime high on Monday led by

and . Tata Steel jumped nearly 6% and was the top gainer among frontline stocks after brokerage Jefferies upgraded the stock to ‘buy’. advanced 1.7%, while , M&M and logged 1% gains each.

The optimism on Dalal Street was, however, measured on concerns over a global downturn. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said 2023 is expected to be tougher than last year as the US, Europe and China – the main engines of global growth – experience weakening activity.

On Sunday, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said a third of the global economy will fall into a recession this year due to aggressive interest rate hikes by the US and global central banks against a backdrop of soaring consumer prices, resurgence in Covid cases in China and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The IMF had in October 2022 cut its global economic growth outlook for 2023.