Sensex jumps 171 points higher, Nifty opens at 12,303; Tata Steel, Wipro, ICICI Bank shine

Mumbai: Indian equity indices on Monday (January 13) opened the week on a firm note with the Sensex jumping up 171 points higher or 0.41 per cent at 41,771, while the broader Nifty opened at 12,303, up 46 points or 0.38 per cent. The top gainers on the Indices were Tata Steel, Wipro, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma and Avenue Supermart, while Yes Bank, Tata Motors and Dr Reddy's Lab are major losers.

All the sectoral indices are trading higher led by the IT, metal, pharma, bank and auto stocks.

On Friday, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 147.37 points or 0.36 per cent at 41,599.72, from the previous close of 41,452.35 points. The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), however, touched an all-time high of 12,311.20 points, before settling at 12,256.80, higher by 40.90 points or 0.33 per cent from its previous close.

Meanwhile, Asian shares on Monday paused near 19-month peaks ahead of the expected signing on a Sino-US trade deal. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan barely budged, having hit the highest since mid-2018 last week.

Japan`s Nikkei was closed for a holiday. It fell sharply early last week when Iran attacked bases hosting U.S. military in Iraq, only to rally almost a thousand points when the two countries stepped back from hostilities. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 edged up 0.1%, to be just off all-time highs.

The main event of the week will be the signing of the Phase 1 trade deal between the United States and China on Wednesday. The Trump administration has invited at least 200 people to the White House for the ceremony.

Washington, however, has reserved the right to reimpose tariffs if it judges China is not abiding by the deal.

Wall Street had slipped and bonds rallied on Friday when data showed US nonfarm payrolls missed forecasts with a rise of 145,000, while wages and hours worked were soft.

Early Monday, the euro was idling at $1.1117 having edged up from a $1.1083 low on Friday. Support comes in around $1.1060, while the recent peak at $1.1239 marks stiff resistance.

The dollar was firm on the yen at 109.53 but faces tough resistance around 109.70 where rallies have repeatedly failed in the past couple of months.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was stuck at 97.410, well within the recent trading range of 96.355 to 97.817.

The pound dipped to $1.3043 after Bank of England policymaker Gertjan Vlieghe said he will vote for a cut in interest rates later this month, barring an "imminent and significant" improvement in the growth data.

Spot gold slipped to $1,558.84 per ounce, having hit a seven-year top last week of $1,610.90 at the height of Iran-US tensions.

Oil prices consolidated after suffering the first weekly loss since late November. Brent crude futures were down 12 cents at $64.86 a barrel, while US crude eased 14 cents to $58.90 a barrel.

(With Agency Inputs)