Sensex inches above 60,000; breadth strong

Equity indices pared gains in early trade after an initial upmove. The Sensex moved above the key 60,000 level in early trade. At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 255.78 points or 0.43% at 60,000.43. The Nifty 50 index gained 84.3 points or 0.47% at 17,897.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.33% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.63%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,323 shares rose and 709 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 496.27 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 115.66 crore in the Indian equity market on 7 January, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

RIL rose 0.21%. The wholly owned arm of Reliance Industries, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings entered into an agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Columbus Centre Corporation for an equity consideration of about $98.15 million. Columbus Centre Corporation (Cayman) is a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and is an indirect owner of a 73.37% stake of Mandarin Oriental New York, a luxury hotel-chain in New York City. Mandarin Oriental New York, set in 2003, is an iconic luxury hotel located at 80 Columbus Circle, directly adjacent to the pristine Central Park and Columbus Circle.

Avenue Supermarts fell 0.74%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 23.62% to Rs 552.56 crore on a 22.22% increase in net sales to Rs 9217.76 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. DMart's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in Q3FY22 stood at Rs 866 crore compared with Rs 689 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. EBITDA margin stood at 9.4% in Q3FY22 as against 9.1% in Q3FY21. The company added 17 stores in Q3FY22 and 29 stores in 9MFY22.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading mixed on Monday as investors kept an eye on the coronavirus pandemic and rising interest rates in the U.S. Japan's markets are closed for a public holiday. Covid cases have continued to rise sharply around the globe following the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

U.S. stocks ended lower Friday as investors worried about looming U.S. interest-rate hikes and unfolding Omicron news.

On Friday, the Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added far fewer jobs in December than expected. The nonfarm payrolls report showed an increase of 199,000 in December. The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in December from 4.2% in November, the jobs report showed.

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