Benchmark indices were trading in the green during the afternoon on Tuesday, led by metals and financials.

The market, after opening on a positive note, tracking global cues, extended gains in the first half. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks also recovered to trade in the green during the afternoon session.

At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at 55,812.45, up 256.66 points or 0.46 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 55,842.30 and a low of 55,536.84. The Nifty 50 was trading near the day’s high of 16,585.25, at 16,574.85, up 78.40 points or 0.48 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 16,495.30.

Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco, Tata Steel and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Asian Paints, Nestle India, HDFC, Infosys and HCL Tech were the top laggards.

Markets trade flat to positive, tracking global cues

Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, CapitalVia Global Research Ltd, said, “Sentiments will get a boost as Commerce and Industry Minister said foreign direct investments into the country are on the rise. India’s benchmark rose with investor sentiments buoyed by a full US approval for a Covid-19 vaccine.”

Investor sentiments were further impacted by the National Monetisation Pipeline worth ₹6 lakh crore unveiled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday. Under NMP, the government aims to monetise under-utilised public sector assets through the participation of the private sector and unlock the value of “government investments and public money” in infrastructure. The plan comprises a four-year pipeline of the government’s brownfield infrastructure assets from the financial year 2022-2025.

FMCG, IT under pressure

On the sectoral front, all indices except Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables were in the green while metals, financials, realty and oil & gas stocks gained.

Global markets signal bullish momentum for Indian stocks

Nifty IT was down 0.50 per cent. Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables were down 0.75 per cent and 0.53 per cent, respectively.

Nifty Metal was up 1.97 per cent. Nifty Bank was up 1.41 per cent while Nifty Financial Services was up 1.18 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank was up 1.35 per cent while Nifty private Bank was up 1.32 per cent. Nifty Realty and Nifty Oil & Gas were up 1.16 per cent and 1.20 per cent, respectively.

Mid-caps, small-caps recover

After witnessing heavy selling in the previous session, mid-caps and small-caps recovered to trade higher.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 1.05 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.94 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.89 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 1.05 per cent.

The volatility index softened 2.48 per cent to 13.35.