Opening Bell: Markets trade marginally higher, IT, energy, metal and PSU stocks gain

On Thursday, the Indian markets opened marginally higher, as the core equity indices were up by 0.80 per cent.

On Thursday, the Indian markets opened marginally higher, as the core equity indices were up by 0.80 per cent. This comes after the FED Chairman, Jerome Powell announced that the highly anticipated rate hike will happen but at 0.25 bps rise only for now. The further point increase in the interest rate will depend if the inflation in the US remains ‘persistently high'. This statement came as a slight relief to the markets globally, in this period of turmoil. 

The Brent crude oil price continues to surge with the current price at USD 116 per barrel, leading to higher price inflation of commodities and resources in the country. Moreover, the continued selling by the FIIs in the equities market in the range of Rs 4338.94 crore is driving the market all the more bearish. The DIIs are compensating somewhat by buying in the range of Rs 3061.17 crore on March 2, 2022. 

The Nasdaq is up by 1.62 per cent, whereas the Asian markets are up by almost 0.50 per cent. The Sensex is at 55,755, up by 264.48 points or 0.48%, while the Nifty 50 is at 16,686.95, up by 81 points or 0.49%. 

BSE Midcap was trading at 23,492.24, up by 0.75 per cent and BSE Smallcap was at 26.939.82, up by 1.16 per cent. Similarly, Nifty Midcap 100 was at 28,458.35, up by 0.85 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 was at 10.028.90, up by 1.37 per cent.  

The top gainers on the frontline indices this morning were IOC, Coal India, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, ONGC, BPCL, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation of India, and HCL technologies. 

Likewise, the top losers were Asian Paints, HDFC Life insurance Company, UltraTech Cement, SBI Life Insurance Company, Nestle India, and Maruti Suzuki.  

On the BSE, 2208 shares have advanced, 402 shares have declined and 90 shares are unchanged. Also, 213 stocks have hit their upper circuit and 91 stocks have hit their lower circuit.  

The top trending stocks on BSE, this morning are Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Chalet Hotels, Aegis Logistics, Asian Paints, Coal India, GNFC, Oil India, Kajaria Ceramics, and NALCO. 

The sectoral indices are all trading in the green with IT, Energy, Public Sector Enterprises, Metal and Media, Oil and Gas sectors rallying 1 per cent to 2 per cent higher.