Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed over half a per cent higher on Tuesday following positive Asian markets and favourable overall global cues. “Easing concerns over the coronavirus issue after the drop in fresh cases came as a breather for markets. Since the full impact of the virus issue still remains unknown the extended shutdown is expected to dent economic growth this quarter. We expect the domestic market to stay focused on the last batch of Q3 numbers and CPI inflation for the month of January. As per the consensus, inflation is expected to remain elevated confirming the recent action by the central bank,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd said.

key factors behind today’s rally

Sensex, Nifty snap 2-day losing streak- S&P BSE Sensex closed 230 points, or 0.56 per cent, higher at 41,209 points while the broader Nifty 50 index settled at 12,110 points, up 79 points, or 0.66 per cent. Heavyweights such as RIL, HDFC, ICICI Bank, SBI and Maruti were among major index contributors.

Bharti Airtel top loser– As many as 23 out of 30 Sensex stocks traded in green, with NTPC as the top gainer, up 2.95 per cent, followed by Maruti, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Power Grid, RIL and UltraTech Cement. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Nestle India, TCS and Sun Pharma were among the top laggards on the index.

All the sectoral indices trade higher- Barring Nifty FMCG index, all the sectoral indices ended higher on Tuesday. The Nifty Bank index gained 242 points led by gains in RBL Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. However, Nifty FMCG index lost 114 points dragged by losses in Godrej COnsumer Products, Colgate Palmolive, Jubilant Foodworks and Marico.

Smallcaps fall- In the broader market, S&P BSE MidCap index gained 48 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 15,828 points, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 14,742, down 34 points or 0.23 per cent.

Bad loans of PSBs came down to Rs 7.27 lakh crore- “The sentiments remained positive with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announcing detailed rules for exempting incremental car, home and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) loans from maintaining cash reserve ratio (CRR). This would essentially mean a lower cost for banks and will help improve liquidity. Some optimism also came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that bad loans of public sector banks (PSBs) came down to Rs 7.27 lakh crore at the end of September 2019 from Rs 8.96 lakh crore at the end of March 2018,” Narendra Solanki, Head of Fundamental Research- Investment Services, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers said.

Death toll from coronavirus climbs above 1,000 in China- The death toll in China climbed above 1,000, as the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned that the spread of cases outside of China could be “the spark that becomes a bigger fire” and said the human race must not let the epidemic get out of control, according to the Reuters news report