Sensex halts 2-day losing streak with 600-point leap; all eyes on US inflation data

Both Sensex and Nifty50 finished a strong session on Tuesday with gains of around one per cent, with financial, IT, oil & gas and FMCG shares leading the rally. Both headline indices halted a two-day losing streak. Globally, equities saw cautious gains as investors awaited a key US inflation reading due on Tuedsay that could determine the course of hikes in benchmark interest rates.

The Sensex added 600.4 points to finish at 61,032.3 and the Nifty50 settled at 17,929.9, up 159 points from its previous close. 

A total of 30 stocks in the Nifty50 basket closed higher, with UPL, ITC, Reliance, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Infosys and Axis Bank being the top gainers. On the other hand, Apollo Hospitals, Eicher Motors, SBI Life, BPCL, Grasim, NTPC, Coal India, UltraTech, Larsen & Toubro and Asian Paints were the top laggards. 

Investors awaited the last leg of financial results for domestic cues, with ONGC to report its quarterly numbers later in the day.  

Adani group stocks were a mixed bag owing to a report report from US-based Hindenburg Research accusing the Indian conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation. The Adani group company has denied the allegations. 

Barring Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and ACC, which rose between 0.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent, all stocks of the Adani group succumbed to losses, falling as much as five per cent. 

Broader indices Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 ended 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent lower respectively.

Overall market breadth favoured the bears, with an advance-decline ratio of 3:5 as 1,296 stocks rose and 2,205 fell at the close on BSE. 

"The whammy over India’s retail inflation breaching the RBI’s tolerance level was cooled by easing WPI inflation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Official data released on Tuesday showed wholesale inflation in the country continued to ease for the eighth month in a row, to 4.73 per cent in January, a day after a consumer inflation reading for the month hit a three-month high of 6.52 per cent. The retail inflation figure once once again went beyond the RBI's comfort zone after a gap of two months. 

Global markets

European markets began the day in the green, mirroring the trend across much of Asia. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.4 per cent at the last count.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.2 per cent, suggesting a mildly positive start ahead on Wall Street.

Catch highlights of the February 14 session on Dalal Street here. For all other news related to business, politics, tech, sports and auto, visit Zeebiz.com.