Sensex hovers around 70,000 mark, Nifty hits another record high ahead of retail inflation data

Benchmark stock market indices registered decent gains at the opening bell on Tuesday, with investors eying the crucial retail inflation data due later in the day. The US Federal Reserve’s policy decision also remains in focus.

The S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.12 per cent at 70,010.58 at 9:19 am, while the NSE Nifty 50 rose to a fresh record high of 21,037.50. Broader market indices also started off the trading session on a positive note, reflecting the winning streak among the benchmarks.

Nifty Media rose 1.80 per cent in early trade and was the top gainer among sectoral indices. All the other Nifty sectoral indices were also trading in positive territory.

The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 were HDFC Life, Bajaj-Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Grasim and SBI Life. On the other hand, the top drags in morning trade were Eicher Motors, Bharti Airtel, Apollo Hospitals, ONGC and Infosys.

Ahead of market opening, Mandar Bhojane, research analyst at Choice Broking, said , “The benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, are expected to open higher on December 12, as indicated by positive trends in the GIFT Nifty, projecting a gain of 60 points for the broader index.”

“Investors are closely monitoring major market catalysts scheduled for the week, including inflation readings and the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement. These factors are anticipated to strongly influence investor expectations regarding the trajectory of interest rates,” he noted.

“Analyzing the daily chart, it is evident that Nifty is in a consolidation phase within the range of 20,850 to 21,000. Despite this consolidation, Nifty maintains a robust bullish trend, with support levels at 20,850 and 20,800. Positional traders are recommended to retain their Nifty positions, setting a stop loss at 20,850,” he added.