FINAL TRADE: Nifty reclaims 21,600, Sensex ends 271.5 pts higher amid buying in oil & gas and financial stocks

Stock market today: Domestic blue-chip indexes Nifty50 and Sensex ended in the green on Wednesday, January 10, aided by buying in oil & gas and financial stocks. The Nifty index ended 73.85 points, or 0.34 per cent, higher at 21,618.7, and the Sensex ended the day 271.5 points, or 0.38 per cent stronger at 71,657.7.

The high-beta Nifty Bank index, whose 12 constituents include SBI, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank, finished the day 118.2 points, or 0.25 per cent, higher at 47,360.85.

"The weakness in global indices continued to weigh down the domestic indices with every up move. The market is looking for fresh triggers for a direction, and the release of US and Indian inflation data may provide a near-term direction in the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"The investor's focus will be shifted to the earnings season; on a sequential basis, the earnings growth is likely to be lower, while the expectations for auto, capital goods, and cement will remain strong," Nair added.

Nifty MidCap 100 settled in green, up 0.29 per cent and Nifty SmallCap 100 closed in red, down 0.15 per cent, respectively.

The Nifty IT, on the other hand, closed 0.5 per cent or 171.9 points, higher at 34,834.35. TCS and Infosys are due to report quarterly results on Thursday, kicking off the earnings season in earnest. However, their results are expected to be subdued given weak spending by key US clients. Market participants also await US inflation data due on Thursday. A soft print will likely fortify bets of a rate cut in March, making stocks generally, and IT companies in particular, attractive.

Adani Enterprises, Cipla, RIL and HCL Tech were among the top gainers in the Nifty basket, trading with gains of around 3-2 per cent. On the other hand, Divi's, NTPC, BPCL and ONGC were among the top losers, down nearly 2 per cent.

Global Market

European shares slipped on Wednesday, hurt by a decline in basic resources shares as lower metal prices weighed, while investors assessed corporate earnings and geared for a key US inflation print later this week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.1 per cent by 0902 GMT. Basic resources companies dipped 0.4 per cent, tracking weak base metal and precious metal prices as investors exercised caution ahead of a key US inflation print.

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