Markets begin 2023 on positive note

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks began the New Year on a strong note, with BSE Sensex climbing 327 points and NSE Nifty finishing near the 18,200-mark on Monday as positive macroeconomic data and a firm trend in European equities bolstered investor sentiment. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 327.05 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 61,167.79. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 92.15 points or 0.51 per cent to 18,197.45.

"Robust GST collections last month indicate resilience of the economy," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Markets welcomed 2023 on a high spirit in the absence of global cues. Strong macros and expectations of healthy corporate earnings provided the support to domestic equites. Going forward, we expect market to remain steady with a positive bias ahead of the December quarterly results and run up to the crucial Union Budget in February. This should drive sector-specific action in the market," said Siddhartha Khemka, head (retail research), Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,950.89 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Tata Steel was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, vaulting 5.86 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Infosys, NTPC and Bharti Airtel. However, Asian Paints, Titan, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and SBI were among the laggards, losing as much as 1.47 per cent. The market breadth was firmly in favour of the bulls, with 22 advances and only 8 declines. In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge rose 0.84 per cent and midcap index advanced 0.57 per cent.