Bank, auto stocks drive Sensex 100 points higher; Nifty near 19,850
The BSE Sensex was trading 117 points or 0.18% higher at 66,140. Nifty50 was trading at 19,849, up 37 points or 0.19% at around 9.17 am.
From Sensex stocks, Asian Paints, Nestle, Power Grid, JSW Steel, and Wipro opened with gains, while HUL, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, and TCS opened with cuts.
Honasa Consumer, which operates the Mamaearth brand, surged 10% after the firm reported a 93% YoY growth in its net profit to Rs 29.4 crore for Q2 FY24.
Meanwhile, shares of Cipla lost nearly 2% after the firm's Pithampur plant got a warning letter from the US FDA.
The regulator also flagged product complaints and microbial combinations.
From the Sectoral front, Nifty Realty rose 0.94%, and Nifty Auto surged 0.44%. Nifty Bank, Financial Services, FMCG, IT, and Media also opened with gains.
In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 gained 0.3%, while Smallcap100 advanced 0.8%.
Experts View
«The market is waiting for triggers for a breakout, which may come with the state election results. If the state election results confirm political stability after the General elections in 2024, a pre-election rally is likely to begin,» said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
«The 10-year US bond yield hovering around 4.40 percent and the declining volume of FII selling augurs well for the market.
