FIRST TRADE: Sensex gains 300 pts; Nifty tops 21,600 amid broad-based buying

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty50 began Thursday's session in the green amid gains across sectors, after two back-to-back sessions of losses as investors globally continued to fret over the timing of US rate cuts.

Both the indices were up about half a per cent at the last count. The Sensex was up 359.1 points at 71715.7 while the Nifty50 was up 100.6 points at 21,617.9.

"A predictable market trend is that high valuations will lead to corrections. The unpredictable part is the timing and the trigger for the correction. In the last few days, global markets are correcting and the trigger for the correction is profit booking, which is normal and rational. Markets tend to overreact. Perhaps the sharp rise in the US market in response to the Fed pivot was a bit overdone. The marginal rise in the US bond yield is a reflection of the market concern regarding the timing of the expected Fed rate cut,"  said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Broader indices Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 mirrored the overall gains on Dalal Street, holding on to the green with gains of about half a per cent each.

The high-beta Nifty Bank index was up 0.2 per cent at 47,777.2. 

BUZZING STOCKS

Bajaj Finance shares were over 3 per cent the company's new loan book was at 9.86 MM as against 7.84 MM YoY.

L&T Technology Services shares were up over 2 per cent after JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley raised their target price on the stock.

Poonawalla Fincorp shares were up over 2 per cent after the company released its Q3 business update. 

Indian Energy Exchange shares were up over 2 per cent after the volume growth at the energy exchange has been at 16.9 per cent. 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Asian shares fell on Thursday and the dollar was near a three-week high as traders dialed back bets of steep and early rate cuts this year, with the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting failing to provide clues as to when U.S. cuts might start.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.26 per cent and was headed for third straight day of losses in a sobering start to the year. Japan's Nikkei fell 1per cent on its first trading day of the year.

(With inputs from agencies.) 

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