Sensex, Nifty gain on global cues, VIX spikes ahead of Economic Survey

At 9.20 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 689.15 points or 1.20 per cent, higher at 57,889.38. The NSE Nifty50 stood at 17,311.70, up 209.75 points or 1.23 per cent. India VIX rose 5 per cent to 21.76, suggesting high volatility ahead.

“All eyes are on the mega event Budget first. One may start focusing on global peers towards the latter half of the week. If the market has to have a sustained recovery, both these factors need to be in sync. If we consider the bullish scenario, banking would be the sector to watch out for, along with automobiles. In case of any unfavourable outcome, one should be prepared for retesting of the recent Nifty lows,” said Sameet Chavan of Angel One.

Wipro jumped 3.09 per cent to Rs 569. Tech Mahindra was up 2.8 per cent at Rs 1,449.70. Titan Company, Infosys, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance advanced over 2 per cent each. HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy’s Labs, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel rose 1.5-2 per cent.

IndusInd Bank fell 3 per cent while L&T and NTPC declined up to 1 per cent. Citi finds Larsen & Toubro attractively priced at 12 times core P/E and said the December quarter results continue to underline a healthy ordering environment while suggesting the stock to be its top pick in Indian industrials and infrastructure. The brokerage has maintained its ‘buy’ on the stock with a target of Rs 2,460.

Goldman Sachs has maintained a ‘buy’ on IndusInd Bank with a target of Rs 1,405 per share. The balance sheet has further strengthened with the MFI issue being addressed, it said, adding that asset quality improved sequentially with total stress loans reducing. IndusInd’s core pre-provision operating profit grew 9 per cent YoY, driven primarily by the better cost of funds, it added.

In the case of NTPC, HDFC Institutional Research has maintained ‘buy’ with a target of Rs 165 per share, assigning a 1.2 times book value (BV) valuation to NTPC’s regulated equity and a 1.5 times BV to its equity investment in 8-GW of upcoming solar capacities.