Nifty hovers around 8,100; Mid-Cap, Small-Cap indices outperform

The benchmark indices continued to trade in a range in Wednesday's session as Asian markets rallied after US dollar rose to its highest level in 14 years as the outlook about US economy improved with Federal Reserve intent on adopting higher pace of rate hikes in 2017. 

At 14:30 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 26,352, up 44 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,096, up 13 points. 

Broader market outperformed the headline indices with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.20%, and 0.34%, respectively.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,081 shares rose and 697 shares declined. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.

“The market has been experiencing decent selling pressure at higher levels since last few days. Since the important level (8056.85) is still unbroken, we would maintain our optimistic stance on the market and interpret this as a buying opportunity. On the flipside, 8133 – 8179 would be seen as immediate hurdles,” said brokerage Angel Broking in a technical note. 

After breaching 68-mark on Tuesday, the rupee appreciated by 9 paise to 67.94 in today's session. Meanwhile, foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their relentless sell-offs and sold domestic equities worth Rs 535.77 crore on Monday, according to the provisional data available with BSE. 

Sectors and stocks

S&P BSE Metals (up 0.8%)  was the top sectoral gainer, led by gains in Hindustan Zinc, Hindalco and National Aluminium.

Among individual stocks, Jyoti Structures surged over 8% after the company said that it has received an order from ESKOM, the South African utility, for supply of towers and construction of 765 and 400 kV Masa Ngwedi Transmission line Sec C.  

Sasken Communication Technologies hit a 52-week high of Rs 448, up 8.5% ahead of the board meeting on Friday to finalize share buyback price and to fix the record date.

Datamatics Global Services surged 10% to Rs 124.70, its 11-year high after Insync Capital Partners LLP bought stake in the company though open market on Tuesday. The stock was trading at its highest level since September 2005.

Dollar at 14-year peak

The dollar revelled in its rapidly widening yield premium, with the Federal Reserve set on a tightening course even as its peers in Europe and Japan act to keep their short-term rates deep in negative territory.

The dollar index, which measures it against a basket of currencies, stood at 103.260 having touched 103.65, its highest since December 2002.

The dollar had also edged back up to 117.80 yen, within sight of its recent peak at 118.66, while the euro stayed pinned at $1.0394.

Global markets

Asian markets rallied after the US dollar encamped near 14-year peaks on as global yield spreads moved inexorably in its favour, while a falling yen lifted Japanese shares to a one-year top.
 

Japan's Nikkei added 0.4% in early trade, while Australia's main index climbed to its highest in almost 17 months after Wall Street racked up more records.

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.5%. On Wall Street, the Dow ended just 25 points shy of the magical 20,000 barrier helped by a 1.68% gain in Goldman Sachs.

The Dow rose 0.46% on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 gained 0.36% and the Nasdaq 0.49%. Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, led by a 1.23% jump in the financial index.



(With Reuters inputs)