FIRST TRADE: Sensex rises over 100 pts, Nifty above 22,100; Bajaj Auto top blue-chip gainer, up 2%

Stock market today: Domestic equity indices opened higher on Monday (February 19) led by financial, auto and oil & gas shares, shrugging off subdued moves in Asian peers after data from the world's largest economy dampened nascent hopes of an early rate cut.

The Sensex rose as much as 101 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 72,527.6 in early deals, while the Nifty50 climbed to as high as 22,107.6, up 66.9 points, or 0.3 per cent, from its previous close.

At the last count, the 30-scrip index was up 98.2 points at 72,524.9 and the Nifty was up 35 points at 22,075.7. The high-beta Nifty Bank index was up 0.2 per cent at 46,477.6.

"An important takeaway from the Q3 results is the improving profitability of India Inc. EBITDA and profit after tax are growing impressively even while sales growth is average. Automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and capital goods are doing very well. In banking, there is impressive credit growth and improving profitability. PSU banks are outperforming private sector banks due to low valuations which continue to be fair even after the run-up in prices," said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Dr Vijayakumar added investors should be careful while chasing many mid and small caps which are rising sharply without fundamental justification. Many of these stocks have very low floating stock and, therefore, can easily be manipulated by a cartel of operators. In the long run, only stocks with strong fundamentals will give steady and good returns.

Broader indices Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 began the day about half a per cent higher.  

BUZZING STOCKS

Quess Corp shares were up over 13 per cent after demerger was approved by its board. 

Data Patterns (India) shares were up over 6 per cent after multiple block deals.

Paytm shares hit a 5 per cent upper circuit after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a relief to the company extended the period for deposit and withdrawal in Paytm Payments Bank from February 29 to March 15.

Novartis shares were up over 9 per cent after reports about Dr Reddy's Laboratories to buy a stake in the company 

LIC shares were up over 2 per cent after the company received refund of Rs 21,740.77 crore from Income Tax Department.

Titagarh Rail Systems shares were up over 7 per cent after the company received an order worth Rs 170 crore from Defense Ministry. 

Crisil shares also rose over 7 per cent after it posted good Q3 numbers. 

Conversely, Sula Vineyards shares were down over 7 per cent after foreign investment firm Verlinvest Asia is likely said to sell 70.42 lakh shares (8.34 per cent) stake in the company.

Schaeffler India shares were down over 2 per cent after the company reported weak Q3 results.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares got off to a slow start on Monday as fading chances for early rate cuts globally soured the mood, though investors are hoping China markets return from holiday with a spring in their step.

A holiday for U.S. markets also made for thin trading, while the latest surge in tech stocks is set to be tested by results from AI diva Nvidia on Wednesday.

(With inputs from agencies.) 

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