Opening Bell: Markets open higher; Nifty above 17,500, Sensex gain 150 points

After gaining nearly two per cent on back of RBI policy announcements on Wednesday, domestic equity benchmarks Nifty50 and the Sensex opened in the green on Thursday. Amid positive global cues, headline indices Nifty50 and the Sensex opened at 17,524.40 and 58,831.41 respectively on Thursday.

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The 12-share Nifty Bank too opened above at 37,300, as even the majority of the sectoral indices opened flat.

BPCL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Larsen and Toubro, and HDFC gained on the Nifty50, while Maruti, Hindalco, Divis Lab, and Tech Mahindra were among the top losers on the index.

Earlier, SGX Nifty Futures hinted at a positive opening for the Indian markets as the index traded 75 points higher at 9.10 am.

Earlier, Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities,  said benchmark Indices are expected to open on a positive note as trends on SGX nifty indicates a positive opening with 76 points gain.  

"Asia Pacific markets traded mixed as investors assessed risks surrounding the omicron covid variant. The Nikkei 225 in Japan declined 0.15% while the Topix Index fell 0.29%. In Australia, the ASX 200 declined 0.09%. Wall street closed slightly higher on Wednesday with the three major indexes managing their third straight day of gains after test data showed the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNtech offered some protection against the new Omicron Variant," he said.  

He further said tha US Investment bank JP Morgan predicted on Wednesday that 2022 will mark the end of the coronavirus pandemic and see a full global economic recovery. Besides, oil edged higher on waning fears of Omicron’s effects and the benchmark US 10 year Treasury yield was up 2.8 basis points to 1.508%. "Crucial support for Nifty 50 is 17,300 and Nifty may face some resistance at 17,650," said the analyst 

In the pre-open, the Sensex started in the green as the 30-share index gained over 150 points backed by Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Asian Paints, and HDFC shares. As many as 25 shares advanced, 4 declined and one remained neutral.

Earlier on Thursday morning, Asian stocks traded mixed, while the major US indices closed higher for the third straight session on Wednesday. Among the Asian indices, Japanese Nikkei 225 was trading 0.12% or 33 points lower, Hang Seng Index was up 1.13 per cent and Shanghai Composite was trading flat with positive bias with 0.07 per cent gain around 7.15 am.

On Wednesday, Dow Jones gained 0.99% or 35.32 points or 0.099 per cent to 35,754.75, Nasdaq Composite gained 100 points or 0.64per cent to 15,786.99 and S&P 500 setteled for 4,701.21, up 14.46 points or 0.31% in yesterday's closing.