Sensex, Nifty open in the green; HCL Tech flat ahead of Q4 results

Benchmark indices, S&P BSE Sensex and NSE's Nifty50 opened flat with a positive bias on April 20. The 30-share index Sensex traded 0.024 per cent or 145 points higher at 59,712.71 levels while the NSE's Nifty50 quoted at 17,668.90, up 50 points. ITC, HDFC duos and TCS were the top contributors to Sensex's gain in the early trade. Most technology stocks were trading in the green.

Among buzzing stocks, Mastek was trading over 6 per cent to Rs 1,686.70 after the company reported encouraging numbers for the March quarter. The company's profit rose by 13.1 per cent QoQ to Rs 72.6 crore while the revenue increased by 7.7 per cent to Rs 709.2 crore. The company has announced a final dividend of Rs 12 per share.

On the sectoral front, the S&P BSE Information Technology index traded 0.6 per cent higher at 26,721.66 levels. Capital goods and consumer durable stocks were also trading with decent gains.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index was trading with 0.15 per cent gains and the S&P BSE SmallCap index was up 0.31 per cent at 28,368.49 levels.

"In the absence of strong positive or negative triggers, the current consolidation phase will continue. There are some sectoral trends within this consolidation phase that are significant from an investor perspective. One, IT is weak and might continue to remain weak. Two, pharma is showing resilience and this sector stands to benefit from the recent spread of Covid, though mild, in many places. Three, new-age digital consumer stocks are showing strength. Institutional accumulation is happening in some of these stocks and at current levels, their risk-reward ratio appears favourable," said Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Global markets

In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.16 per cent lower, while Japan's Nikkei was up 0.07 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was 0.07 per cent lower. In the overnight trade, the US market's benchmark indices ended mostly lower. Shares of Tesla Inc slid 6 per cent in after-hours trading after the electric vehicle maker posted its lowest quarterly gross margin in two years, missing market estimates, Reuters reported.