Mumbai, Dec 28 (IANS): Value buying along with hopes of lesser economic impact of Covid-19s Omicron variant pushed India's key equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- higher on Tuesday.
Both the indices had a gap up opening from their respective previous closes due to the positive impact of Asian markets. However, rising Covid-19 cases capped the gains.
Globally, stock markets rose as oil prices eased and investors hailed strong US holiday season sales and some grew less fearful about the economic damage from Omicron.
Shares in Europe and Asia inched up, helped by another record-setting day on Wall Street and after Britain and France held off from imposing tougher Covid-19 restrictions before the year-end.
On the domestic front, volumes on the NSE were in line with the average of last 3-4 days, but lower than a month's average.
Among sectoral indices, consumer durables, capital goods, auto and IT indices gained the most.
Consequently, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 57,897.48 points, up 477.24 points or 0.83 per cent from its previous close.
Similarly, the broader 50-scrip Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose to 17,233.25 points, up 147 points or 0.86 per cent from its previous close.
"Nifty rose for the second consecutive session with the advance decline ratio rising sharply to much above 1:1, even as volumes remain on the lower side. This reflects the lower presence of institutional players due to which traders are having a field day," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
"Nifty will now face resistance in the 17,298-17,379 band, while 17,155 could provide support. The broader markets could face some serious profit taking towards this weekend," he added.
According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services: "The market seems to have got its mojo back just before the year-end. Reduced FII activity and positive news flows around economic growth has helped the market over the last few days.
"We expect the market to remain sideways with positive bias until the end of the year. Q3 results season and build up to the upcoming budget session would be key triggers for the market in Jan 2022."
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: "Domestic equities were upbeat chasing global trends in spite of stricter restrictions being imposed following spiking Covid cases. The market presumes it as a precautionary measure to curb public gathering during the holiday season.
"The global markets remained positive, taking cues from strong US holiday season sales and reports on reduced risk of the new Covid variant."