New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS): FMCG and IT stocks were firm in afternoon trade on Monday, pushing the Sensex into the green.

After being in the red during morning trade, Sensex was up 173 points at 72,410 points with Nestle being the top gainer.

Nestle was up more than 2 per cent in trade while ITC was up more than 1 per cent in trade.

IT stocks also gained with Wipro and Tech Mahindra up more than 2 per cent. HCL Tech was up more than 1 per cent while Tata Motors was up more than 1 per cent.

Among the Sensex losers, Bharti Airtel was down more than 2 per cent, M&M was down more than 1 per cent.

As the New Year begins, it is a Goldilocks scenario for the economy and markets, says V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The growth momentum in the economy is strong. 7 per cent GDP growth in FY24 is likely to be followed by around 6.7 per cent growth in FY25 with decent corporate earnings growth.

The banking system is in the pink of health and all macroeconomic indicators are stable. Political stability after the General Elections looks almost certain, he said.