SENSEX, NIFTY50 turn flat after gap up opening, September F&O contracts expiry weighs

Indian equity benchmarks came off intraday high levels after staging a gap up opening on Tuesday, September 30, owing to expiry of September NIFTY50, NIFTY Bank and stock futures and option contracts due later in the day.

The SENSEX and NIFTY50 indices gave up most of their gains within 30 minutes of opening as buying index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bharat Electronics and Asian Paints was offset with losses in Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, ITC, Axis Bank and Tata Motors.

The SENSEX fell as much as 304 points from the day's highest level and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,645 after hitting a high of 24,732.

As of 9:52 am, the SENSEX was up 60 points at 80,428 and NIFTY50 index rose 24 points to 24,658.

Global market update

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher following overnight gains on the Wall Street. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%, Taiwan Weighted climbed 1.41% and Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.2%.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.1% after Japan's factory output fell more than expected while retail sales declined for the first time in over three years in August, government data showed, heightening uncertainties about the economic outlook, news agency Reuters reported.

Overnight, US stocks managed to close higher led by gains in Nasdaq after investors bought heavyweight technology stocks and shrugged off the uncertainty of a potential US government shutdown and hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials.

Investors are closely watching out for how talks between Republicans and Democrats pan out over funding that has raised the prospect of a government shutdown beginning Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters.

Dow Jones rose 0.15%, S&P500 advanced 0.26% and tech heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.5%.

Sectoral landscape

Buying was visible across board as all the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the NIFTY Metal index's 1% gain. NIFTY PSU Bank, Bank, Private Bank, Financial Services and Healthcare indices also rose around 0.5% each.

Broader markets were also witnessing buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 0.22% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.3%.

Among the individual stocks, Blue Dart shares rose nearly 10% to hit an intraday high of ₹6,113 after the company announced price increase in range of 9% to 12%, depending on product variabilities and the customer’s shipping profile.

Shares of Avenue Supermarts rose nearly 1% after it opened its new DMart store in Delhi at t Epicah Mall & Business Centre, Moti Nagar on Monday taking the total store count to 431.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

Power Grid was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 1.3% to ₹284. JSW Steel, Hindalco, Asian Paints, Eternal, Titan and Bharat Electronics also rose between 0.75-1.3%.

On the flipside, InterGlobe Aviation was top NIFTY50 loser, the stock fell 1.2% on its debut in the benchmark index. ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Axis Bank, Apollo Hospitals, Infosys and Bajaj Finserv were also among the laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2051 shares were advancing while 1,082 were declining on the BSE.