Sensex, Nifty open flat, IT stocks little changed; Just Dial jumps 6% post-Q4 nos

The stock market opened flat with a positive bias on April 18 with the S&P BSE Sensex reclaiming the 60,000 mark. The 30-share index traded 110 points, or 0.18 per cent higher at 60,020.50 while the NSE's Nifty was quoting 30 points, or 0.17 per cent higher at 17,736.80 points.

Among Sensex stocks, Tata Motors (up over 1 per cent) was the top gainer while Sun Pharma (down 0.50 per cent) was the biggest loser. After taking a heavy beating in the previous session, the IT counters were little changed in the early trade. Infosys was trading at Rs 1,260.25, up 0.17 per cent.

Among buzzing stocks, Justdial shares zoomed over 7 per cent to Rs 696.70 apiece after the company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 83.6 crore in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, rising 11 per cent as compared to the previous quarter.

Besides, Mirza International hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent to Rs 42.44 apiece on the BSE.

"The important near-term question in the market now is whether Nifty can recover from the 121-point cut yesterday and resumption of FII selling. It is important to appreciate the fact that the market was dragged down by the IT pack with Infosys alone contributing 138 points to the cut in Nifty. This means, if we exclude the IT segment the market is resilient. An important likely consequence of the expected disappointing results of the IT stocks in FY 24 is the inevitable sectoral rotation that is already underway. Since the prospects of banking, FMCG, construction, pharma and capital goods appear good, money is likely to move into these segments. This sectoral rotation will give profitable investment opportunities. Also, lots of stock-specific actions cutting across sectors are likely in response to the Q4 results and commentary," said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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On the sectoral front, the S&P BSE Auto index was trading at 29,994.28 levels, up 0.48 per cent. Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, and MRF were the top gainers on the index. 

The Nifty Realty index was trading 0.75 per cent higher while the Nifty PSU Bank traded 0.74 per cent higher. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index was trading 0.22 per cent higher at 24,912.33 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index traded 0.17 per cent higher at 28,235.02 levels.

Global markets

Asia's shares pared losses on Tuesday as China's economy recorded a stronger-than-expected recovery from punishing pandemic lockdowns last year that led to a major slowdown. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 per cent, a smaller decline than the 0.4 per cent fall earlier in the session.