Sensex up 200 points, Nifty reclaims 10,500 on positive Asian cues

The domestic market opened higher on Monday tracking positive trend seen in Asian markets as a semblance of calm returned with the S&P futures extending their bounce, indicating a strong opening on Wall Street later today. 

At 9:18 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 34,218, up 213 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,524, up 70 points.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices outperformed and rallied over 1 per cent each. 

Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned positive. On the BSE, 1,167 stocks rose, 242 stock declined, while 51 stocks remained unchanged. 

"In case of a bounce back, 10540 – 10650 would be seen as immediate resistances; whereas a move below 10398 would reinforce the selling pressure towards 10300-10200 levels," said Angel broking in a technical note.

ONGC (up 3.4 per cent), Tata Steel (up 2.6 per cent) and Adani Ports (up 1.6 per cent) were the top gainers on Sensex. 

SBI was the top loser, losing over 2 per cent after the public sector bank reported a net loss of Rs 2,416 crore in the December quarter. The gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) of the bank came in at 10.35 per cent.

IIP, CPI data due today

Country's industrial growth is likely to have slowed down to 6.5 per cent in December from 8.4 per cent in the preceding month, according to the median of a Cogencis poll of 19 economists.

Growth in industrial production hit a 25-month high in November and was well above estimates of 4.7 per cent on account of double-digit growth in consumer non-durable goods and infrastructure goods.

Consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation is expected to have marginally declined to 5 per cent in January on the back of a fall in prices of vegetables, according to the median of a poll of 25 economists by Cogencis.

Headline retail inflation had risen to a 17-month high of 5.21% in December, the second consecutive month when it was above the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 per cent. 

Global markets

Asian share markets found a semblance of calm on Monday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.8 percent, having suffered a 7.3 percent drubbing last week.

Both South Korea and China gained 0.8 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent, adding to a late bounce on Friday. Yet a relatively sharp 12 tick drop in Treasury bond futures suggested it was too early to sound an all-clear on volatility.