Mumbai, Aug 6 (IANS) Domestic equity markets opened higher on Thursday amid hopes of US-Iran peace deal and a better-than-expected June earnings season so far.

Sensex started the session at 78,782.43, up 0.25 per cent or 200 points, while Nifty opened at 24,632.65, an increase of 8 points or 0.03 per cent.

Sector-wise, IT, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and healthcare stocks were traded higher in early deals as Nifty IT, Nifty Chemicals, Nifty Pharma and Nifty 500 Healthcare jumped up to 0.50 per cent.

On the other hand, Nifty Cement, Nifty Metal, Nifty Auto and Nifty Realty decreased by up to 0.52 per cent.

From the Nifty constituents, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), NTPC, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, TMPV, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto were among the top losers.

Analysts said that the August monetary policy didn’t influence the market trend, adding that the brief message from the policy is that rate hike is some time away and therefore, interest-elastic sectors are unlikely to be influenced by interest rates in the near-term.

However, there are interest-elastic sectors like financials and autos which are doing well due to other fundamental factors, according to the experts.

They further noted that the Q1 results of financials — particularly NBFCs and automobiles — signal sustained growth driven by buoyant demand conditions.

“Strong sectors like pharmaceuticals and telecom have reported good results with indications of better times ahead,” they said.

Moreover, foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers on Wednesday, offloading Indian equities worth Rs 943 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to provide strong support to the market and purchased equities worth Rs 2,883 crore.

In addition, reports claim that there is a proposed agreement between Iran and Oman to help end the US-Iran war.

Tehran would gain control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, marking a significant concession to Iran, they added.

On the commodities front, international benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.51 per cent to remain below the $80 per barrel mark, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined by 0.77 per cent to $74.64.

–IANS

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