Opening Bell: Nifty, Sensex gain 0.50% each; financial shares shine

The Indian markets on Thursday started on a positive note amid positive global cues as the benchmark indices gained nearly 0.50 per cent in the opening trade. The domestic equity benchmarks Nifty50 and Sensex opened the day at 57,251.15 and 17,066.80, respectively.

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The 12-share banking index Nifty Bank too gained nearly 1 per cent to open at 35,350.50.

Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, ONGC, Tata Steel IndusInd Bank, ITC and Titan were top gainers on the two indices. Divis Labs, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's Labs and TCS were major laggards on Thursday.

In the pre-open, the Sensex gained 320 points to 57,251 as 2 shares advanced, 2 declined and 2 remained neutral on the 30-share index.

"The Indian Benchmarks continued their bull rally today amid positive global cues.There may be some cautiousness with a private report that Indian Consumer Price Index could rise to 150 points putting pressure on the central bank. Some support will come as rating agency ICRA said that profitability of sugar, fertilizer and dairy sectors will remain stable in FY22. There may be some buzz in agriculture industry stocks as legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops is expected to de decided," said Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, Capitalvia Global Research Ltd.

Garg said the levels of 17000-17100 may act as important levels in the market. "If the market sustained the levels of 17000-17100, we can expect the market to trade till the range of 17400-17500. Technical indicators also support positivity in the market," he added.

Earlier, hinting at the positive opening for the Indian markets, SGX Nifty Futures breached 17,000-mark as it gained by 98 points at 9.10 am on Thursday.

"Indian markets jumped over 1 per cent each on Wednesday. Today, markets are likely to continue their bull run with a positive start on firm global cues. However, volatility cannot be ruled out on account of potential risk from the Omicron variant. India has so far recorded close to 250 cases of Omicron across 15 states," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities for Thursday, December 23.

Nigam said, On the technical front, 16500 and 17200 are immediate support and resistance for Nifty 50. For Nifty Bank, 34600 and 35500 might act as immediate support and resistance respectively, he added.

Earlier on Thursday morning, Asian markets were off to a cautious start as the indices traded mixed with minor gains or some decline this morning. Japanese Nikkei 225 was trading with 0.39% gain, while Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng Index declined by 0.10% and 0.28% respectively.