The BSE Sensex and the Nifty ended higher for the third straight on Thursday, in line with other global indices, as global risk sentiment improved after a study showed hospitalisation risk from Omicron was lower compared with the Delta variant of coronavirus. Gains in the market were led by IT, FMCG, realty and PSU bank shares. Both the benchmark indices opened higher and remained in the positive territory throughout the day and finally closed with modest gains. The Sensex ended 384.72 points or 0.68% higher at 57,315.28 and the Nifty50 index settled 117.15 points or 0.69% higher at 17,072.60.

Among Nifty stocks, Power Grid Corp was the top gainer, up 3.69% followed by IOC and ONGC, which advanced 3.07% and 2.81% respectively. ITC, Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, Britannia, Tata Consumer Products, NTPC, Coal India, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, BPCL, SBI, Titan, SBI, Wipro were the other prominent gainers in the Nifty, rising over 1.20% each.

Divis Labs was the top loser in the Nifty, down 1.86% followed by JSW Steel and Bharti Airtel, which fell 1.63% and 0.88% respectively. Sun Pharma, Ultratech Cement, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, Eicher Motors, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel were the other losers in the 50-share index. 

Broader indices outperformed benchmark indices today. The BSE Midcap index gained 1.01% while the BSE Smallcap index advanced 0.73%, outperforming the benchmark Sensex. Market breadth was also positive today. Out of the 3,449 stocks traded on the BSE, 2.198 shares advanced while 1,119 shares declined and 131 shares closed unchanged. 

Global Markets

Most of the major Asian indices ended higher today tracking positive handover from Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.83%, China’s Shanghai Composite and Taiwan Weighted advanced 0.57% and 0.67% respectively. European indices also opened higher and are still trading in the positive territory. Futures trade of US indices also indicate that Wall Street stocks may witness a flat to positive start on Thursday.