Markets trade flat with a positive bias, Nifty above 17,000

Benchmark indices were trading marginally higher during the afternoon on Monday amid volatility.

The market opened on a weak note amid worries of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant. The market remained volatile in the first half. Indices were marginally higher during the afternoon, led by IT and metals and gains in heavyweights such as Reliance.

At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at 57,313.65, up 206.5 points or 0.36 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 57,616.67 and a low of 56,382.93. The Nifty 50 was trading at 17,070.50, up 44.05 points or 0.26 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 17,160.70 and a low of 16,782.40.

The volatility index rose 0.55 per cent to 20.92 as investors remained cautious.

Hindalco, HCL Tech, Reliance, Bajaj Finserv and TCS were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while ONGC, Hero Motocorp, Adani Ports, UPL and BPCL were the top laggards.

Concerns regarding the spread of Omicron and vaccine effectiveness against it continued to weigh on investors’ sentiments.

IT, metals in focus

All indices except Nifty IT, Nifty Metal and Nifty Financial Services were red on the sectoral front. Realty, pharma, PSU Bank, oil & gas and FMCG stocks faced increased pressure.

Nifty IT was up 0.68 per cent, while Nifty Metal was up 0.42 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty Realty was down 1.46 per cent while Nifty PSU Bank was down 0.99 per cent. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were trading 0.85 per cent and 0.40 per cent lower, respectively. Nifty FMCG was down 0.64 per cent, while Nifty Oil & Gas was down 0.52 per cent.

Broader indices underperform

Midcaps and small caps continued to witness increased selling pressure as broader indices were in the red.

Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.92 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 1.95 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.73 per cent, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 1.44 per cent.

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