Investors get richer by ₹ 3.5 lakh crore amid rising concerns over Omicron COVID-19 strain

Equity investors became richer by over ₹ 3.5 lakh crore despite largely negative global cues amid concerns over the Omicron strain of the coronavirus. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped to 886.51 points or 1.56 per cent to close at 57,633.65."Recovery in domestic bourses was supported by broad-based buying while healthcare stocks lost ground. Banking and financial stocks advanced as the MPC is scheduled to announce its policy decision tomorrow where the RBI is likely to keep its policies unchanged considering the short-term uncertainties," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the bluechip names, Hindalco Industries was the top gainer, rising 4.37 per cent. ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel were other gainers. Meanwhile, Cipla was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 0.67 per cent. Asian Paints, Britannia Industries, Divi’s Labs and Bharti Airtel were others that ended in the red.Broader market indices ended higher, but underperformed their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap gained 1.14 per cent and Nifty Midcap advanced 0.96 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended up 1.32 per cent.Dilip Buildcon, Delta Corps, MMTC, National Aluminium Company, Torrent Power and Indian Hotel were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 4-10 per cent. Vodafone Idea, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Alembic Pharma, KEI Industries, Quess Corps and CESC were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 1-5 per cent. All sectoral indices ended with gains. Nifty Metal climbed the most at 2.39 per cent. Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Financial Services were among those that added over 2 per cent each as well. Market breadth was in favour of gainers as 2,331 stocks ended in the green, while 946 names settled with cuts. As many as 211 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcapspace. Meanwhile, 31 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 455 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 170 lower circuit limits.