Nifty ended higher; IT stocks become top performers ahead of Q3 earnings

Market update at 3.30 PM: The benchmark index - Nifty has ended above the 18,050 mark, higher by 52.45 points or 0.29 per cent while Sensex surged 221.26 points or 0.37 per cent. Besides, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 ended flat. Despite the positive closing of the frontline indices, the advance-decline ratio is tilted in favour of bears.   

Nifty IT was the top gainer while Nifty Metal slipped nearly 2 per cent.   

Interestingly, all the constituents of Nifty IT index ended in positive, ahead of quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, the IT heavyweights such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro will publish their Q3 earnings on Wednesday.   

From Nifty 50 pack, HCL Technologies and Adani Ports emerged as the top gainers while JSW Steel & Tata Steel turned out to be the top losers today.  

Market Update at 01:30 PM: With broad participation and by improving the market breadth, the bulls have once again established their dominance on D-Street as Nifty managed to sail past the 18,050 mark while Sensex is above the 60,600 mark.   

Almost 32 stocks from Nifty 50 index are seen trading in green with Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank being the top contributors to the index gains.   

Among sectoral indices, barring Nifty Metal and Nifty FMCG, all other indices were seen trading in the green, led by Nifty Realty & Nifty Energy.   

The broader markets have also managed to extend their early gains with Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 gaining nearly half a per cent each.

Market Update at 10:35 AM: After a sharp run-up seen in the last trading session, a tug-of-war has been witnessed between bulls and bears on Tuesday as the prices continue to oscillate in the red & green terrain.

Nifty is just trading above the 18,000 mark while Sensex has managed to hold its head above the 60,400 mark. The top three contributors to Nifty index include HDFC, Reliance Industries, and HCL Tech. 

Meanwhile, the broader indices have managed to outperform the frontline gauge with Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 advancing 0.25 per cent & 0.29 per cent, respectively.  

Given the outperformance by the broader market indices, the advance-decline ratio is in favour of advances.  

Talking about stock-specific performance, the stock of Just Dial has jumped nearly 9 per cent amid a huge spurt in the volume. We are still in the initial hours of the trading session but the stock has already recorded its highest single-day volume since December 14, 2021. There are murmurs on the street that the company is said to enter the e-commerce business.  

Pre-market update: The US markets ended mixed last night with NASDAQ gaining about 6 points while Dow fell around half a per cent. As a result, the Asian markets opened slightly lower on Tuesday morning with SGX Nifty indicating an opening just below 18,000. 

In the last trading session, the FIIs turned out to be net sellers and have sold for Rs 124 crore. However, the DIIs turned net buyers and bought about Rs 481 crore worth of equity.  

The aviation sector generated a good report, which states that the domestic air passenger traffic grew up by 52 per cent in the month of December on a YoY basis. 

Natural gas surged over 3 per cent on Tuesday morning while Rupee is trading stronger than the other currencies.  

As we head near the weekly expiry, we see that 17,500 holds the maximum open interest in the put side while 18,000 holds the highest open interest in the call side. The PCR stands at 1.26, which suggests a bullish view by the market participants.