Positive global cues and decreasing crude oil prices saw stock markets welcome Samvat 2071 (New Year) with the Sensex and the Nifty closing in the green.

The NSE Nifty regained the psychological 8,000-mark in the hour-long Muhurat trading on Thursday, closing at 8,015, up 19 points (0.23 per cent). The BSE Sensex closed 61 points higher at 26,851 (or 0.23 per cent).

However, Wipro’s shares declined nearly 4 per cent as the technology major posted disappointing quarterly earnings and also gave a weak guidance for the October-December quarter. Other losers include BHEL, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Sesa Sterlite.

Except for CNX Media all the sectoral indices ended in the green, with the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gaining over 1 per cent.

During Muhurat trading, market participants close the year’s books of accounts and start the New Year with a fresh set of buys and pray to Goddess Lakshmi for wealth creation and prosperity.

It is a practice for brokers to recommend a set of stocks as Diwali picks for themselves and clients keeping in mind the objective of long-term wealth creation.

The BSE Sensex edged up more than 25 per cent in Samvat 2070, despite other emerging market equities remaining under pressure since early September.

Rajesh Agarwal, Head, Research, at Kolkata based Eastern Financiers, said: “Going into Samvat 2071, fears over the tapering in the US, the Euro-zone crisis and outflows from emerging markets have almost eased.”

The key to market performance is revival in corporate profitability, RBI’s policies and crude prices. Investors are waiting for implementation of key economic policies. Investment and capex cycles are likely to pick up once the policies start getting implemented.

Inflation A report by HSBC on India’s economy said consumer price inflation could dip by as much as 1.8 percentage points if the 20 per cent decline in the crude price is sustained. However, the risk of food inflation remained, it cautioned.

Global markets were also trading in the green, with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 indices up more than 1 per cent at 830 pm IST.

The NSE volatility index India VIX closed at 12.8625, down 1.29 per cent, signalling better days ahead.

The BSE and the NSE will remain closed on Friday on account of Diwali-Balipratipada .

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