Sensex, Nifty off to strong start; HCL Tech, Nestle India fall ahead of result - Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Benchmark indices opened on a high note on Thursday amid buying in shares of banking and financials and index heavyweight .

At 9.30 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 350.14 points or 0.61 per cent higher at 57,387.64. Nifty50 stood at 17,238.05, 101.50 points or 0.59 per cent. Midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 1.1 per cent.

This is even as Brent prices rose over 1 per cent to $108.17 per barrel and the dollar index, which has an inverse relationship with equities, ticked up 0.11 per cent to 100.45, following its retreat in the previous session. Asian markets also were trading mixed.

"We are back above 17,000 convincingly and hence, any positivity from the global peers or the domestic banking space could bring strength to our market. As far as levels are concerned, 17,200-17,300 remains a stiff hurdle and only a sustainable move beyond this would result in a strong momentum," said Sameet Chavan of Angel Broking.

Considering the overall tentativeness, we advise traders not to trade aggressively and should continue with a stock specific approach, he said.

Among Sensex stocks, IndusInd Bank climbed 1.28 per cent to Rs 984.70. Maruti Suzuki advanced 1.13 per cent to Rs 7,755.20. Dr Reddy's Labs, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and Reliance Industries gained over 1 per cent each. Asian Paints, SBI, ITC, HDFC Bank and TCS also gained up to 1 per cent.

Losers included India, Tata Steel, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra and Axis Bank. Nestle India and HCL Tech are scheduled to report quarterly earnings today.

Nestle India, which follows the January-December financial year, may report 5-10 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue and low single digit growth in profits, analysts tracking the company said. Margins may also come down during the quarter.

HCL Technologies, the third largest IT services company in India, is likely to report mid-teens revenue growth and a strong profit growth for the March quarter. Analysts expect year-on-year (YoY) revenue growth in the range of 15-16 per cent, while the growth in USD terms will likely be closer to 10 per cent. Profit growth is likely to be around 40 per cent, but adjusted profit growth is likely to be lower, said analysts. Sequentially (QoQ), revenue and profits are likely to be flattish.

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Sensex, Nifty off to strong start; HCL Tech, Nestle India fall ahead of result - Economic Times
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