Stock Market Today: Indices end higher for fifth consecutive session, Sensex rises 21 points

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 20.86 points (0.04 per cent) to end at 58,136.36 while the NIfty 50 inched 5.40 points (0.03 per cent) higher to settle at 17,345.45. Both the indices had opened marginally lower earlier in the day and moved in a narrow range throughout the session.

On the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki India, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), State Bank of India (SBI) and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) were the top gainers of the day while Tech Mahindra, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel were the top laggards.

Among sectors, the Nifty PSU Bank index rose 2.68 per cent while the Nifty FMCG climbed up 0.64 per cent and Nifty Auto inched up 0.54 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Realty fell 1.69 per cent and Nifty IT slipped 0.67 per cent.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 24,535.78, up 122.33 points (0.50 per cent) while the S&P BSE SmallCap settled at 27,549.73, up 94.35 points (0.34 per cent). On NSE, the volatility index or India VIX rose 5.97 per cent to 18.53.

“Global indicators did not favour bulls, with most Asian and western markets trading over concerns of rising geopolitical tension between the US and China. Additionally, economic data point to a decrease in demand, major markets throughout the world are trading with recessionary fears. The domestic market, however, has proven resilient thanks to increased demand in heavyweights and a strengthening Indian rupee underpinned by falling US treasury yields & FIIs buying,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global Markets (from AP)

Global shares were mostly lower Tuesday as an expected visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan prompted threats from Beijing.

European shares mostly declined in early trading, after benchmarks finished mostly lower in Asia. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.5 per cent in early trading to 6,406.15, while Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 per cent to 13,388.26. Britain’s FTSE 100 was little changed, inching up less than 0.1 per cent to 7,416.42. The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.6 per cent while that for the Dow industrials lost 0.4 per cent.

In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 1.4 per cent to 27,594.73. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.5 per cent to 2,439.62. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.4 per cent to 19,689.21, while the Shanghai Composite dove 2.3 per cent to 3,186.27.