Market Update: Indices trade higher as auto shares gain; Nifty above 18,300, Sensex crosses 61,300

Auto stocks were propelling the markets to trade higher as the benchmarks Nifty 50 and the S&P BSE Sensex crossed 18,300 and 61,300 respectively. At 1.15 pm, the broader Nifty50 surged 43.70 points or 0.24% higher after retracting from day's high of 18,313.85. Similarly, the share Sensex after touching day's high of 61,385.48 were trading at 61,292.63, up 69.6 points or 0.11 per cent around the same time on Monday.  

Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, ONGC, BHarti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, TCS, NTPC and Wipro were among the top gainers on the Nifty and the Sensex.  

See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:

The stocks those declined the most on Monday were HCL Tech, Axis Bank, Britannia, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, Asian Paints, Nestle India and Kotak Bank.  

Despite positive cues from other Asian markets, Indian equity indexes made positive gains in the late morning session, with both the Sensex and the Nifty trading in the green, said Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, Capitalvia Global Research Ltd. 

"India is likely to earmark nearly Rs 1.4 lakh crore ($18.8 billion) as fertilizer subject in the budget, up from Rs 1.3 lakh crore in FY2022, which will be helping fertilizers stock advancing in the upcoming weeks," said Garg 

Earlier, he had said that  an increase in coronavirus infections could dampen the market sentiment. Increased COVID cases, according to Fitch Ratings, may prolong recovery in MSME and microfinance lending, as well as increase asset quality risks for non-banking financial institutions, he had said. "Our research suggests that the levels of 18,400 may act as important resistance and If the market sustains above the levels of 18100, we can expect the market to trade in the range of 18100-18400," he added.  

Meanwhile, all broader market indices traded in the green in the afternoon trade, however, Nifty Bank, financial services, Nifty IT, Pharma, healthcare and Private Bank were seen under pressure as the sectoral indices declined between 0.04 to 0.50%.