Sensex, Nifty open in the green; Axis Bank, L&T, IOC, BPCL major gainers

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices on Thursday (January 23) opened in the green, with the Sensex up 69 points or 0.17 per cent firmer at 41,185, while the Nifty at 12,119, up 12 points or 0.1 per cent higher. Major gainers on the indices were Axis Bank, L&T, IOC, BPCL, Maruti Suzuki, and TCS, while top losers include ICICI Bank, Cipla, Zee Ent, Bharti Infratel and Power Grid.

Indian rupee today opened marginally lower at 71.21 per dollar versus previous close 71.19.

On Wednesday, equity indices wiped out initial gains and closed in the red as investors assessed mixed Q3 corporate results and implications of spreading coronavirus in China and beyond.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 208 points lower at 41,115 while the Nifty 50 was down by 62 points at 12,108. Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were in the red except for Nifty media, IT and FMCG.

In world markets today, Asian shares and US stocks fell as investors remained anxious about the spread of a new flu-like virus in China just as millions prepared to travel for the Lunar New Year. 

Oil futures tumbled to seven-week lows as the contagion was expected to hit airline travel, while the International Energy Agency`s warning of an oil surplus and a larger-than-expected increase in US crude inventories re-kindled fears of excess supply.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.45%. Blue chip Chinese shares slumped 0.91%. Australian shares were down 0.57%, while Japan`s Nikkei stock index slid 0.6%.

The Chinese yuan fell toward a two-week low, while safe-havens such as the Japanese yen, gold, and US Treasuries rose before a travel blockade of the Chinese city, Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak starts later on Thursday.

The S&P 500 eked out a 0.03% gain on Wednesday, but the overall tone on Wall Street was mixed as investors assessed the impact of the virus and braced for the corporate earnings season.

In the onshore market, the yuan edged down 0.1% to 6.9160 per dollar, approaching the lowest since Jan. 10. The yen rose 0.2% to 109.64 versus the dollar, while the Swiss franc traded at 0.9679 against the greenback.

Gold, another asset that is often bought as a safe haven, rose 0.07% to $1,559.17 per ounce. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell slightly to 1.7551% in Asia as some investors sought the safety of government debt.

US crude fell 1.69% to $55.78 a barrel, briefly touching the lowest since December 3. Brent crude slumped by 1.55% to $62.26 per barrel to reach the lowest since December 4.

(With Agency Inputs)