Share Market update: Sensex rises 85 points, Nifty ends above 18,250; Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, L&T top gainers

The Indian equity market closed in the green for the fifth consecutive session today on the start of earnings season. Sensex rose 85 points to 61,235 and Nifty ended 45 points higher at 18,257. Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and L&T were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 6.35%.

Earlier, Sensex rose 113 points to 61,263 and Nifty gained 30 points to 18,242.PowerGrid, Infosys and TCS shares were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 2.15%.

Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today.  

3: 30 pm:Sensex rises 85 points to 61,235 and Nifty ends 45 points higher at 18,257.

3:00 pm: Market update

Sensex pares losses and trading  61 points lower at 61,088. Nifty trades flat at 18,213. Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid and L&T were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 5.70%.

2: 45 pm: Adani Group, South Korea's POSCO to operate steel mill in Gujarat

Adani Group and South Korea's POSCO have signed a MoU to establish a steel mill at Mundra in Gujarat. "POSCO and the Adani Group have agreed to explore business cooperation opportunities, including the establishment of a green, environment-friendly Integrated Steel Mill at Mundra, Gujarat, as well as other businesses. The investment is estimated to be up to USD 5 Billion," stated the company in a statement.

2: 15 pm: India reports nearly 2.5 lakh Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

India added 2,47,417 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,63,17,927 according to the Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

1: 45 pm: Expectations from Budget

Jyoti Roy - DVP- Equity Strategist, Angel One said," The Finance Minister will be presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 on the 1st of Feb’22 which will be keenly watched by the markets. We expect that the Union Budget will focus on targeted spending while maintaining fiscal discipline. We expect the government's fiscal deficit for FY23 to be well below the budget estimate of 6.8% for FY2022 due to better than expected tax collections. We expect that the government will continue its focus on providing support to the rural economy and manufacturing sector through increased spending and PLI schemes. We also expect the government will increase allocation to the infrastructure and housing sector given their high multiplier effect on the economy. We do not expect any major announcement in the Union Budget and believe that the government will continue with its reform process even outside of the Budget."

1: 15 pm : LIC buys stake in this healthcare firm, stock surges over 2%

Country's largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has bought stake in diagnostics and healthcare tests chain Dr Lal PathLabs in the quarter ended December 2021. Buoyed by the development, shares of Dr Lal PathLabs surged 2.59% to Rs 3,768 against the previous close for Rs 3,673 on BSE.

12:15 pm : Paytm share falls 2.5% to all-time low

Share of One 97 Communications fell 2.5%  in noon session today. The share hit a new low of Rs 1056.60 against previous close of Rs 1,083 on BSE.

11: 45 am: Infosys share trading flat post Q3 earnings  

Infosys stock rises 0.79% to Rs 1,892.45 against previous close of Rs 1,877.60 on BSE.

The IT service major reported a 11.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit for October-December quarter at Rs 5,809 crore. On a quarter-on-quarter (Q0Q) basis, net profit was 7.1 per cent higher than Rs 5,421 crore reported in the preceding September quarter.

10: 55 am: Wipro share falls over 5% post Q3 earnings

Wipro share fell over 5% in early trade after Q3 earnings of the IT firm failed to meet market expectations. Wipro stock touched an intraday low of Rs 653.4, falling 5.49% against previous close of Rs 691.35 on BSE.

10:15 am: TCS share trading flat post Q3 earnings  

TCS stock rises 0.66% to Rs 3,876 against previous close of Rs 3,857.25 on BSE.

The IT service major reported a 12 per cent (YoY) increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 9,769 crore, boosted by a demand for digital services such as cloud. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 8,701 crore in the year-ago period.

10:00  am  Expert quote

Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, Capitalvia Global Research said, "Traders will be encouraged by the World Bank's prediction that the Narendra Modi government's Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme will help India's economy develop at an annual rate of 8.7% in fiscal year 2022-23, outpacing emerging market counterparts such as China. Our research suggests that the levels of 18400 may act as important resistance levels in the market. If the market sustains above the levels of 18100, we can expect the market to trade in the range of 18100-18400."

9: 15 am: Market opens in green

Sensex rises 113 points to 61,263 and Nifty gains 30 points to 18,242. PowerGrid, Infosys and TCS shares are the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 2.15%

9: 05 am: Expert comment

Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said, "Investor sentiments are high and are expecting a good earning season. Markets can witness some consolidation today after being in uptrend for quite some time. Any dip from the current levels presents a good buying opportunity and investors should accumulate quality stocks. On the technical front, the key resistance levels for Nifty50 are 18,250 followed by 18,290 and on the downside 18,150 followed by 18,090 can act as strong support. Key resistance and support levels for Bank Nifty are 39000 and 38400, respectively."

8:40 am: Previous session updates

On Wednesday, the Indian equity market closed in the green for the fourth consecutive session ahead of the Q3 earnings season. Sensex rose 533 points to 61,150 and Nifty ended 156 points higher at 18,212. M&M, Bharti Airtel and RIL were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 4.68%.

TCS, Titan, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro were among the top Sensex losers, falling up to 1.50%.

8: 30 am: FIIs in action

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,001 crore on January 12, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) lapped up shares worth Rs 1,332 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

8: 20 am: Global markets

In Asia, Kospi was trading flat at 2,967. Nikkei fell 247 points to 28,517 and Hang Seng index rose 67 points to 24,469. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 13 points to 4,726. The Dow gained 38 points to 36,290. The Nasdaq composite gained 34.94 points to 15,188.