Vikrant Shekhawat : Apr 08, 2021, 10:43 AM
Mumbai: The domestic stock markets have opened firm, extending the upmove witnessed on Monetary policy day, due to cautiously positive cues from the global market front. At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex had reclaimed the 50,000 mark to trade at 50,000.81, higher by 328 points or 0.65 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 14,914.50, up 94.70 points or 0.66 per cent. The broader markets are also trading firm, with the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap indices gaining around half a per cent each.All the BSE sectoral indices are trading in the green this morning, with metal, IT and consumer goods indices leading the way.Overnight, the Dow Jones rose 16.02 points and S&P 500 gained 6.01 points, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 9.54 points.Meanwhile, oil futures inched higher on Wednesday on an improving global economic outlook, but gains were capped by rising gasoline inventories and fears that new coronavirus outbreaks will weaken a global recovery in fuel demand.Brent crude futures settled at $63.16 a barrel, up 42 cents, or 0.7 per cent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $59.77 a barrel, gaining 44 cents, or 0.7 per cent.On the stock-specific front, select metal stocks are trading strong in this session. Hindalco has soared 2.1 per cent to top the gainer's list on the BSE and Tata Steel has strengthened by nearly 2 per cent. Financial stocks are also going strong, with Bajaj Finserv, HDFC and ICICI Bank gaining around a per cent each.On the other hand, ONGC, Dr Reddy's and Bajaj Auto have shed up to half a per cent each on the BSE.The BSE market breadth is strong. Out of 2001 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1497 advancing stock as against 417 declines.