Finance & Stock Market
Share Market Highlights: Sensex, Nifty close around 1% up; Broader markets, sectoral indices rallied
By - 26 Jan 2024 08:55 PM
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Sensex Today | Share Market Highlights: After a bout of choppy trading, both the benchmark indices consolidated in the green after opening in the red. Although they had dipped in the negative zone a few times through the day.Stocks gained as investors rewarded companies for positive earnings updates and as China’s latest move to stimulate its economy boosted resources shares.Europe’s Stoxx 600 index climbed 0.8% as mining stocks jumped the most in almost six weeks after the People’s Bank of China said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks on Feb. 5. The move should boost the economy by freeing up liquidity for customer loans and bond purchases. US equity futures gained, led by tech stocks, after Wall Street set fresh closing highs on Tuesday. Asian stocks advanced, with Chinese shares traded in Hong Kong extending their rally after the stimulus news. Japanese government bond yields and bank stocks jumped Wednesday as investors decided that monetary policymakers are on track to scrap negative interest rates in the near term after all.As traders increased bets that the Bank of Japan will push ahead in the next few months with its first rate hike since 2007, 10-year note yields climbed as much as 10.5 basis points. Shares of Japanese banks, who have struggled through decades of deflation, rose on expectations higher interest rates will improve their lending margins.Elsewhere, the timing and extent of expected Federal Reserve rate cuts this year have dominated markets in recent weeks with less attention paid to Japan’s central bank. That left economists looking more bullish over the BOJ’s looming move than market players. After a day of choppy trading, both the benchmark indices ended in the green, around 1% above the previous day's close, after they had opened in the red.At close, Sensex was up 689.76 points, or 0.98%, at 71,060.31, Nifty was up 215.15 points, or 1.01%, at 21,453.95.Broader market indices also closed up 1%, whereas among sectoral indices, only the Nifty Private Bank ended the day in the red.Global shares rose on Wednesday, fuelled by positive tech earnings and optimism Chinese authorities will offer support to its stock markets, while the dollar showed resilience on growing expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve won't rush to cut rates.European stocks climbed 0.8%, with tech stocks adding over 3.6% to their highest in two years. Investors are also focused on manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures - seen as a good gauge of economic health - from the euro zone, Germany, France and Britain later in the day.The European Central Bank (ECB) meets on Thursday and is widely expected to keep rates unchanged - though traders are pricing in as much as 130 basis points of interest rate cuts this year. Wall Street was set to gain, with e-mini futures for the S&P 500 up 0.4% as investors focused on a slew of earnings. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes was last at 4.097%, while the two-year Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was at 4.314%.Markets are now pricing in a 47% chance of a rate cut in March from the Fed, according to the CME FedWatch tool, compared to the 88% chance of a rate cut priced in a month earlier.The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, gained 0.3%. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1%. Still, the index is down around 4.7% so far this month.After a bout of choppy trading, both the benchmark indices consolidated in the green after opening in the red. Although they dipped in the negative zone a few times through the day.At 3 pm, Sensex was up 683.54 points, or 0.97%, at 71,054.09, Nifty was up 211.30 points, or 0.99%, at 21,450.10. |
