Domestic equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in positive territory, extending their gains into the second consecutive session, on December 27.
Positive global cues supported domestic sentiment after China further eased Covid curbs.
As reported by Reuters, stock markets gained while the US dollar softened on December 27 after China said it would drop its quarantine requirements for inbound visitors, further easing three-year border controls aimed at curbing Covid-19.
Sensex closed 361 points, or 0.60 percent, higher at 60,927.43 while the Nifty50 settled at 18,132.30, up 118 points, or 0.65 percent.
Mid and smallcaps outperformed the benchmarks; the BSE Midcap index rose 0.78 percent while the Smallcap index jumped 1.46 percent.
Investors got richer by ₹2.5 lakh crore in a single day as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped to ₹280.4 lakh crore from ₹277.9 lakh crore in the previous session.
Crude oil prices rose on hopes of a demand revival amid reports of China reopening. Brent Crude traded near the $85 per barrel mark. The rupee fell 20 paise to settle at 82.85 per dollar.
Top Sensex gainers: Tata Steel stock jumped almost 6 percent to lead the pack of Sensex gainers. Shares of Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and Asian Paints also ended among the top gainer stocks in the Sensex kitty, rising up to 2 percent.
Top Sensex losers: Shares of Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC ended in the red in the Sensex index, falling between half a percent to one percent.
Sectoral picture
Nifty FMCG index fell 0.41 percent, ending the day as the solitary sectoral loser on NSE.
Metal stocks clocked robust gains as the Nifty Metal index jumped 4.23 percent amid reports of easing Covid curbs in China.
Nifty PSU Bank, Realty, Media and Oil & Gas indices rose over a percent each.
Experts views
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services observed that with strong support from global peers, the domestic market is attempting to recoup its previous week's losses. Metal stocks shone amid hopes of a demand revival in China on reports of loosening Covid restrictions.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities believes the market is getting some comfort from the absence of any negative news from the global front.
He said valuations are slightly looking better after the recent spate of corrections, hence investors are resorting to value buying in the run-up to the current month's futures and options (F&O) expiry.
Technical views by experts
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas underscored the Nifty formed a bullish outside bar on the daily chart on December 26. Its follow-through was seen on the upside on December 27.
"With this, the index has moved up to retest a trendline, which was broken on the downside on Friday last week. Thus 18,150-18,200 is the key resistance zone to keep a tab on," said Ratnaparkhi.
"If the index manages to surpass 18,200 and sustains in the higher territory then it can stretch towards 18,400. On the other hand, failure near 18,150-18,200 can drag the Nifty back to 17,800," Ratnaparkhi said.
Ameya Ranadive, an equity research analyst at Choice Broking pointed out that the volume profile indicates Nifty may find strong support around the 17,900-18,000 zone.
Ranadive highlighted the open interest (OI) data which showed the highest Call OI at 18,200 strike, followed by the 18,300 strike, while the highest PUT OI was witnessed at the 18,000 strike price.
Key market data
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of MintGenie.
