Sensex erases all its losses to trade higher, Nifty tests 8,850

Angel Broking remains upbeat on the market and expects Nifty to move towards the all-time high

The benchmark indices on Monday continued to trade flat tracking mixed trend seen in Asian markets as uncertainty over US fiscal and monetary policies kept the momentum tepid.  

At 1:14 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 28,562, up 93 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,848, up 27 points. 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices outperformed the headline indices to add 0.6% and 0.8% respectively. 

Brokerage Angel Broking continues to remain upbeat on the market and expects the Nifty to gradually move towards the all-time high. 

“Before this, 8,896 – 8,969 would be seen as immediate levels for the forthcoming week. On the flip side, 8,783 – 8,712 is now likely to provide decent support in the near term,” it said in a technical report. 

Sectors and stocks

Telecom stocks were in focus with all frontline stocks like Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications (RCom), MTNL and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) up between 2% and 8%.

Havells India Limited lost nearly 2% to Rs 415, while Lloyd Electric shed over 14% to Rs 278 after the company on Sunday announced its board has approved the acquisition of Lloyd Consumer Durable Business Division (Lloyd Consumer). 

Amtek Auto rose over 4% to Rs 36 after the company said its board will meet on 23 February 2017 to consider issuing equity shares.

Busy week for Fed speakers 

As many as five US Federal Reserve officials are due to speak this week with Fed Board Governor Jerome Powell appearing on Wednesday

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Monday she would be comfortable raising interest rates at this point if the economy kept performing the way it did.

The comments came after US Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony before Congress, where she appeared slightly more hawkish saying it would be “unwise” to delay raising interest rates further.

Global markets 

Asian markets traded mixed. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1% and back toward a 19-month peak set last week.

Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2% as domestic data showed exports disappointed in January even as imports outpaced forecasts.

Shanghai stocks added 0.6% and expectations of solid economic growth in China kept commodities such as copper and iron ore well bid.

Turnover was light with US markets closed for the Presidents Day holiday.

(With inputs from Reuters)