FIRST TRADE: Sensex, Nifty muted at open; Oil & Gas stocks gain

Stock market today: The domestic equity indices on Wednesday, November 22, opened on a subdued note as global stocks showed signs of fizzling out.

The S&P BSE Sensex during the open was down 0.07 per cent, or 51.46 points, at 65,879.31, and the NSE Nifty was down 0.08 per cent, or 14.65 points, at 19,768.75.

"The uptrend in the market is intact with global support coming from the easing US bond yields. The US 10-year bond yield at 4 per cent is a strong pillar of support for equity markets. Resilience in large caps like RIL, Bharti, and HDFC Bank can continue to support the uptrend," said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Dr. Vijayakumar added today the focus of the market will be on the opening of the four IPOs. A lot of money is likely to go into the high-quality Tata Technology IPO. Investors can continue to accumulate high-quality large-caps, particularly in banking and autos where the margin of safety is high.

In the broader market, while the Nifty Mid Cap 100 was flat with a negative bias, the Nifty Small Cap 100 was down 0.40 per cent. 

Likewise, the high-beta Nifty Bank was down 0.13 per cent at 43,631.15.

BUZZING STOCKS

BPCL shares were up over 2 per cent as the company to consider interim dividend in a board meeting on November 29. 

Airlines stock, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Jet Airways, traded higher after domestic air traffic on November 20 touched a record high on the third day in succession.

Texmaco Rail shares were up over 1 per cent after the company launched its QIP. 

Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mama Earth shares was up over 2 per cent ahead of its listing Q2 results later today. 

On the other hand, IDBI Bank shares were down over 3 per cent after the centre withdrew the RFP or request for proposal for diluting the centre's stake in the bank in the wake of reduced interest. 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Asian stocks backed away from a 2-1/2-month high on Wednesday and the dollar found support as investors tempered some of their earlier enthusiasm about the prospect of an end to U.S. rate hikes.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan has gained more than 3 per cent since a week ago and hit its highest since September on Tuesday. But it fell 0.2 per cent in early trade on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5 per cent.

(With agency inputs) 

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