Bengaluru (Reuters) – Indian blue-chip indexes recovered from a flat open on Wednesday aided by pharma and energy stocks, while the global stock rally showed signs of fizzling out.
The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) rose 0.17% to 19,817.70 points and the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was up 0.15% at 66,032.53, respectively, as of 10:11 a.m IST.
“We expect the blue-chip to consolidate in the next few sessions, after the recent rally,” said Raghvendra Nath, managing director at Ladderup Wealth Management.
Domestic markets will mostly likely trade in a narrow range ahead of crucial state assembly election results on December, Nath added.
The Nifty has risen 1.75% since Nov. 14 when soft U.S. inflation data elevated bets that the Federal Reserve will not hike rates further. IT (.NIFTYIT), which earns significant share of the revenue from the U.S, gained about 6% over the last six sessions.
Pharma stocks (.NIPHARM) also gained 4% since Nov. 14 and are on course to rise for the sixth session in a row, adding 1% on the day.
Macquarie said on Tuesday that Indian pharma companies are in a “sweet spot” due to a turnaround in the U.S. generics market.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL.NS) added 3% and topped the Nifty gainers. The oil marketing company said post market hours on Tuesday that it will consider declaring interim dividend on Nov 29. BPCL also led the gains in energy index (.NIFTYENR), which is up 0.7%.
Financials (.NIFTYFIN), banks (.NSEBANK) ad private banks (.NIFPVTBNK) lost between 0.1% and 0.3%.
Wall street equities closed lower overnight, snapping a winning streak. Asian markets also edged lower, as the recent rally showed signs of easing.
Among individual stocks, IDBI Bank (IDBI.NS) lost 3.5% after government cancelled bids process to hire valuer for IDBI Bank share sale.
