Sensex, Nifty open on positive note; HDFC, United Spirit, Interglobe Aviation, Tata Motors gain

Mumbai: Indian equity indices on Tuesday (January 28) witnessed a positive start with the Sensex up 73.80 points or 0.18% at 41228.92, while the broader Nifty also opened up 9 points or 0.07% at 12128. Major gainers on the indices include HDFC, United Spirit, Interglobe Aviation, Tata Motors, ONGC, HPCL, and BPCL, while Vedanta, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Britannia Industries and Bharti Airtel were major losers.

The Indian rupee opened higher by 7 paise at 71.37 per dollar today versus previous close 71.44.

On Monday, Indian markets witnessed a dull day of trade as investors grew increasingly anxious about the economic impact of China`s spreading virus outbreak. The Sensex closed 458.07 points lower at 41,155.12 while the Nifty fell over 129.25 points to settle at 12,119 despite a sharp decline in global oil prices. 

Meanwhile, Asian stocks extended a global selloff on Tuesday as China took more drastic steps to combat a deadly new coronavirus. As the death toll reached 106 in China, some health experts questioned whether Beijing can contain the virus which has spread to more than 10 countries, including France, Japan, and the United States. No deaths have been reported outside of China so far.

With Chinese markets shut investors were selling the offshore yuan and the Australian dollar as a proxy for risk. Oil was also under pressure as fears about the wider fallout from the virus mounted.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slumped 1% in early Asian trading on Tuesday. Japan`s Nikkei was 0.9% down, Australian shares stumbled 1.4% and South Korea`s Kospi index skidded 3%.

Analysts said travel and tourism would be the hardest-hit sectors together with retail and liquor sales though healthcare and online shopping were seen as likely outperformers.

On Monday, key indexes for British, French and German equity markets slid more than 2%, as did pan-European markets on worries about the potential economic impact from the deadly virus. Stocks on Wall Street fell more than 1%.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 reversed some of the losses after slumping 1.6% overnight for their biggest single-day percentage loss since last October. They were last up 0.25%.

Australian and New Zealand bonds gained on Tuesday as did Japanese government bonds (JGB) with yields on 10-year JGBs set for their fourth straight day of losses.

The yen, which has been rising for the past five sessions, dipped slightly to 108.98 per dollar. In commodities, Brent crude was off 27 cents at $59.05 while U.S. crude eased 22 cents to $52.92.
Spot gold was flat at $1,581.60.

(With Agency Inputs)