Equities begin 2020 on a positive note led by metal stocks

Equity benchmark indices started calendar 2020 on a firm note with most sectoral indices in the green during early hours on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 102 lakh crore infrastructure project pipeline for the next five years at a time when overall economic growth is slowing.

The move is likely to help the country nearly double the size of GDP to five trillion dollars by 2025.At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 79 points to 41,333 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 20 points at 12,189.Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive zone with Nifty metal up by 0.52 per cent, IT by 0.39 per cent and realty by 0.2 per cent.

Among stocks, JSW Steel gained by 1.15 per cent to trade at Rs 273.15 per share while Vedanta moved up by 0.98 per cent and Tata Steel by 0.73 per cent.

Adani Ports added gains of 1.97 per cent and engineering major Larsen & Toubro ticked up by 1.5 per cent.

The other prominent gainers were index heavyweight Reliance Industries, Bharti Infratel, Wipro and IndianOil Corporation. However, among the losers were IndusInd Bank, Eicher Motors, Coal India, ONGC and Nestle India.