The Indian equity indices have extended losses for the third straight session. The NSE Nifty 50 was down 147 points or 0.59% at 24,895, while the BSE Sensex has lost more than 500 points or 0.64% at 81,535.
However, the key indices opened Tuesday’s trading on a higher note. Both the Nifty 50 and Sensex opened the session 0.17% higher.
Bank Nifty opened 98 points or 0.18% higher at 55,518. However, the midcap stocks outperformed in the opening trade, relatively. The Nifty Midcap 100 advanced 310 points, or 0.54%, to open at 57,415.75.
“The irrelevance and lack of credibility of the rating agencies post the 2008 debacle of the GFC were highlighted on Monday in the US markets. The White House and the US Treasury head both attacked Moody’s downgrade of the “AAA” rating for the US. The US stock futures were weak through the Asian and European trading day but shrugged off up to 1% cuts to end in the green for a 6th day,” said market veteran Ajay Bagga.
“Though 71% of Nifty 500 constituents rose above the previous day’s high, only 31% ended up closing above the same, reflecting rejection trades and unwillingness to chase prices higher. But with nearly 63% of them staying above yesterday’s VWAP, we will retain the upswing hopes for today, though upside expectations may be limited to 25,192-25,235 on Nifty for now,” said Anand James, Chief Markets Strategist at Geojit Investments.
Here are four key highlights from the early session-
Top performers leading the charge
Among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 were Tata Steel, Hindalco, Infosys, JSW Steel, and Tech Mahindra. The top movers in the Nifty 50 were Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, ITC, Tata Steel, and BEL as soon as markets opened.
Stocks in the red
Not everything was rosy, though. The stocks that remained under pressure included Shriram Finance, Power Grid Corp, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, and HDFC Bank, which were among the laggards.
Global markets offer positive signals
Indian markets opened on a higher note following the global markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.65%, other Asian indices like South Korea’s Kospi, Chinese Shanghai Composite, etc., were also trading higher. The US futures were trading in the green, shrugging off Moody’s Ratings downgrade to the US credit rating.
All eyes on Q4 earnings
Investors are closely tracking a string of quarterly results scheduled for today. Major names like Hindalco Industries, Aster DM Healthcare, Zydus Lifesciences, Dixon Technologies, Fortis Healthcare, EIH, Gland Pharma, Laxmi Organic Industries, JK Tyre & Industries, Max Healthcare Institute, Solar Industries India, NHPC, Talbros Engineering, United Spirits, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, and Whirlpool India will announce their quarterly earnings scorecard on May 20.
