FIRST TRADE: Sensex rises over 260 pts; Nifty above 22,000; Britannia up over 2% after Q3 result announcement

Stock market today: Domestic equity indices Sensex and Nifty edged higher on Wednesday (February 7), looking to extend their gains from the previous session. Further, a rise in their Asian peers also supported the sentiment. Last seen, both indices were up over 0.50 per cent. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 365.67 points to 72,556.76, and the NSE Nifty soared 114.7 points to 22,044.1.

"A significant feature of the ongoing bull market is its ability to bounce back from dips. This makes the buy-on-dips strategy successful. The bounceback happening now is being led by IT and supported by autos and pharma, even while Bank Nifty continues to decline. The fact that new leaders are emerging to take the market forward indicates that the uptrend is intact and new record highs are possible soon," said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Dr. Vijayakumar added that an area of concern is the excessive speculation in low-grade stocks, where many are doubling in a few days. These excesses of a bull market warrant caution. Investors should stay in the comfort of high-quality stocks.

Meanwhile, the Nifty Mid Cap 100 and Small Cap 100 opened over 0.70 per cent higher in the broader markets. High-beta Nifty Bank was up 0.68 per cent at 45,999.65.

BUZZING STOCKS

EIH shares were up over 17 per cent a day after the company posted good Q3 results.

Paytm shares were up 8 per cent after reports suggested Paytm CEO has met the RBI and finance minister amid regulatory concerns.

Nykaa shares rose over 3 per cent, a day after the company posted good Q3 results.

Britannia shares gained over 2 per cent but soon pared gains after the company posted in-line Q3 numbers.

Conversely, Navin Fluorine shares were down over 5 per cent after the company posted weak Q3 results.

EID Parry shares were down over 4 per cent a day after the company posted weak Q3 results.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks firmed on Wednesday as investors waited to see if Beijing's increasingly frantic efforts to prop up its sagging share markets would actually work, while bonds enjoyed a reprieve from recent selling.

In recent days, China's regulators have announced further curbs on short selling, and state investors have said they are expanding their stockbuying plans.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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