MARKETS: Sensex, Nifty volatile; Metals lead, Indian hotels down 1%

Opening Bell

LIVE market updates: The headline indices opened on a quite note for a second day amid slow investor participation and concerns around the omicron variant. The BSE Sensex was nearly 50 points lower at 57,755, while the Nifty50 was testing the 17,200-mark.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap was 0.1 per cent lower dragged by RBL Bank, Oberoi Realty, Shriram Transport Finance, Godrej Properties, Indian Hotels, Lodha, JSW Energy, IRCTC, down 1-3 per cent.

The BSE SmallCap index was, however, in the green zone, up 0.3 per cent.

Among Sensex-30 constituents, PowerGrid, Wipro, Tata Steel,Titan, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy’s, Maruti, TCS, Infosys were the leading gainers, up 0.3-1 per cent. On the Nifty, Tata Consumer was the additional gainer.

On the flip side, Bajaj Twins, Sun Pharma, M&M, HDCF, Axis Bank, L&T, SBI, Reliance were the top losers, down 0.2-1.3 per cent.

Bajaj Auto, Here Motor, BPCL, Coal India, Adani Ports were the additonal losers on the NSE.

Among sectors, public sector banks and realty indices on the Nifty were down the most by up to 0.7 per cent.

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The benchmark indices were largely muted in the pre-open session on Thursday. Both the indices were seen declining. The BSE Sensex was down 70 points at 57,728, while the Nifty50 was at 17168, down 45 points.

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LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices are likely to start on a flattish note on Thursday after having ended lower a day before in a choppy trading session. At 8:15 am, the SGX Nifty was quoting 17,284 , as compared to the Nifty’s spot close of 17,213 on Wednesday.

Among individual shares, Hindustan Unilever and the entire FMCG pack will be in focus, as the distributors of the former plan to stop supply of its products in Maharashtra in a phased manner starting from January 1, at the same time demand for FMCG products in the December quarter has been weaker. READ MORE

Shares of Tata Group hospitality arm Indian Hotels will also be eyed as the company has acquired the balance 14.28 percent equity stake in ELEL Hotels and Investments.

Further, financial stocks may also be looked out for as the RBI, in its Financial Stability Report has said that banks’ asset quality may deteriorate further but lenders have enough capital to withstand a severe shock.

Bad loans of commercial banks in India may rise to between 8.1 and 9.5 per cent under varied degrees of stress by September 2022 from 6.9 per cent in September 2021, the central bank added.

Global cues

The US retailers backed by strong holiday season sales boosted the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 to a record high. Dow was up for the sixth straight trading session, up 0.3 per cent on Wednesday. The S&P 500 advanced 0.1 per cent, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1 per cent.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after US inventories fell, thus offsetting demand concerns from Omicron fears. Brent Crude gained 0.4 per cent at $79.23 a barrel, and WTI Crude rose 0.8 per cent to $76.56 a barrel.

Markets in Asia this morning had opened on a quiet note. Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite, Kospi and Taiwan were up 0.0 – 0.3 per cent each. Nikkei and Straits Times were down 0.1 per cent each.