New Delhi: Markets opened the New Year on a positive note led by gains in IT, auto and select banking and financial stocks.
The benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 181.26 points or 0.38 percent to 47,932.59 in early trade. The broad-based NSE Nifty breached the 14,000 level by rising 48.55 points or 0.55 percent to 14,030.30 in opening trade.
Major gainers in the Sensex pack were M&M, TCS, SBI, HDFC, Ultrachem, ITC, Maruti, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank and Dr Reddy, rising upto 2.30 percent. On the other and, major losers were Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Powergrid, HUL, Axis Bank, Asian Paint, Bajaj Finserve, Nestle, Tech Mahindra and Titan, falling upto 0.61 percent.
FPIs have been a major driver of the rally in Indian stock markets. According to exchange data, FPIs bought shares worth Rs 1,135.59 crore on a net basis on Thursday.
The indices finished the year 2020 with overall gains of around 15 percent. Sensex gained 15.7 percent while the Nifty jumped 14.9 percent in the year.
Most Asian markets and the U.S. market is closed for the new year holiday. Equities bounced back with a vengeance following the plunge in March, with the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow posting respective annual gains of 43.6%, 16.3% and 7.2%, a Reuters report said.
Oil prices advanced on hopes of rebounding demand, but U.S. and Brent crude prices ended 2020 down 20.5%, and 21.5%, respectively, Reuters added.
