At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading higher by 19 points on Singapore Stock Exchange.
The domestic stock markets have opened on a subdued note this morning, after coming off life-time highs in the previous trading session due to mixed global cues, as hopes of a US stimulus and optimism surrounding the rollout of coronavirus vaccine were negated by concerns over rising coronavirus cases across the world. At 9:20 am, the Sensex was at 49,432.65, lower by 58 points or 0.12 per cent and the Nifty was at 14544.80, down 25 points or 0.16 per cent.
Asian equities made early trading gains on Thursday after a mixed session at Wall Street as political events in Washington culminated in the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.21 per cent in early trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures rose 0.23 per cent.
Overnight, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index closed slightly higher on Wednesday, with defensive sectors leading gains as investors waited for details of the next U.S. fiscal stimulus plan and Congress began President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.22 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 31,060.47, the S&P 500 gained 8.65 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 3,809.84 and Nasdaq Composite added 56.52 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 13,128.95.
On the earnings front, Infosys reported a 16.6 per cent rise in the October-December quarter profit and raised its annual revenue growth forecast, in results announcement post market hours on Wednesday. The Bengaluru-based company’s consolidated net profit climbed to Rs 5,197 crore from Rs 4,457 crore a year earlier, beating street estimates.
Wipro reported nearly 21 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to ₹ 2,967 crore for the quarter ended December. Revenue rose 1.3 per cent to ₹ 15,670 crore. In dollar terms, the revenues grew 3.9 per cent to $2.07 billion from the preceding three months.
Information technology stocks came under intense selling pressure after the gains in the recent past. HCL Tech, which is due to announce its December quarter numbers on Friday, shed 3.7 per cent at Rs 1,016 on the BSE, while Infosys and Wipro lost around 3 per cent each post their Q3 numbers. Tech Mahindra also lost 3 per cent on the BSE.
On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, ITC and Gail gained 1.7 to 3.1 per cent each, on the BSE.
The BSE market breadth was weak. Out of 2,137 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 985 advancing stocks as against 1,061 declines.