Sensex up 328.54 points, Nifty opens above 12000; ITC, Gail, Eicher Motors major gainers

Image courtesy: Reuters

Mumbai: Indian indices on Tuesday (February 11) witnessed a strong start with the Sensex up 309.12 points or 0.75% at 41,288.74, and the Nifty is also up 94.30 points or 0.78% at 12,125.80. Major gainers on the indices were ITC, Gail, Eicher Motors, UltraTech Cement, Coal India, and IOC, while UPL and Bharti Airtel are top losers.

About 527 shares have advanced, and 149 shares declined, while 24 shares remain unchanged. 

The Indian rupee today opened higher at 71.23 per dollar against the previous close of 71.29.

On Monday, the BSE S&P Sensex closed 162 points lower at 40,980 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 67 points at 12,032. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were in the red with Nifty metal melting by 3 per cent, auto by 2.5 per cent and realty by 1 per cent. 

Asian share markets followed Wall Street higher today even as doubts grew about how quickly China`s factories could get back to work given that the coronavirus continues to spread and deaths mount.

Investors seemed to be hoping for the best, though. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.9%, while Shanghai blue chips rallied 1%. Japan`s Nikkei was closed for a holiday, although Nikkei futures traded 0.7% firmer. Futures for the EUROSTOXX 50 rose 0.7% and the FTSE 0.6%.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 added 0.3%, after a late jump took Wall Street to fresh record highs on Monday. The Dow ended up 0.6%, the S&P 500 gained 0.73% and the Nasdaq 1.13%.

Markets are pricing in almost 40 basis points of easing this year from the Federal Reserve and again slightly inverted the Treasury yield curve to reflect the danger of recession.

The relative outperformance of the US economy is keeping the dollar well supported, with the euro slipping to a four-month low at $1.0906. The British pound touched a two-month trough of $1.2870 and was last at $1.2913.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was again at its highest since mid-October at 98.858. The dollar was steadier on the Japanese yen, which benefits from being a safe haven of its own, and last stood at 109.81. 

Risk aversion initially helped lift gold to its highest for a week, only for the strength of the dollar to pull it back 0.25% to $1,5768.61 per ounce.

Oil prices bounced a little after weeks of selling, as traders waited to see how demand in China might fare and whether OPEC could agree to trim supplies. Brent crude futures firmed 72 cents to $53.99 a barrel, while US crude rose 58 cents to $50.15.

(With Agency Inputs)