Indian equity indices were trading at record highs in early trade on Friday, with Nifty50 reaching 21,000 mark for the first time after RBI left repo rate unchanged at 6.50%.
The BSE Sensex was trading 264 points higher at 69,786. Nifty50 was trading at 20,984, up 83 points at around 10.12 am.
The RBI’s rate decision will be announced at 10:00 a.m. IST.
According to a survey of 10 economists conducted by ET, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to maintain the repo rate at 6.50% while adhering to its stance of withdrawing accommodation.
Among Sensex stocks, JSW Steel, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, and ITC opened with gains, while ICICI Bank, SBI, Kotak Bank, Maruti and TCS opened with cuts.
Zomato shares rose nearly 2% in early trade following a pre-market block deal where Japan’s SoftBank is said to have sold a 1% stake in the food delivery platform at a price of Rs 120.50 apiece.
Olectra Greentech shares also opened over 3% higher after the electric bus maker secured an order worth 628 million rupees for the supply of 40 electric buses.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Media and Nifty Realty jumped over 1% each. Nifty FMCG, Metal, Bank, Financial, IT, Pharma, and Oil & Gas also opened higher.
In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 rose 0.46%, led by Bharat Dynamics, Prestige Estates Projects, and Lodha. Meanwhile, Nifty Smallcap100 gained 0.23%.
Experts View
“The market is likely to remain in a range in the near-term. Leading indicators like power demand, housing demand, credit growth and revival of rural demand suggest a resilient economy which can keep the market buoyant, restrained only by valuations. Fairly valued segments like banking may be accumulated on dips,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.”
Falling crude is positive for paints, tyres and aviation where demand continues to be robust, Vijayakumar suggested.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said, “Nifty could now remain in the 20961-20711 band over the near term.”
Global Markets
Wall Street equities closed higher overnight, after weekly jobless claims data indicated cooling of the US labour market, aiding expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut by March 2024.
Japanese markets were reeling on Friday, with the Nikkei heading for its biggest weekly drop since October. Beyond Japan MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex Japan rose 0.5%. The Nikkei was down 1.6% for a weekly drop of 3.3%. China’ Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%.
FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Indian shares worth Rs 1,564 crore on a net basis on Thursday while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 9.66 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
Crude Oil
Oil prices rose in early trade on Friday but were on track to fall 6% for the week, hovering near six-month lows, with investors fretting about weak energy demand in Asia combined with high U.S. crude production.
Brent crude futures rose $1.18, or 1.6%, to $75.23 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $1.02, also up 1.46%, to $70.35 a barrel.
Rupee Rises
The Indian rupee rose 3 paise to $83.33 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, rose 0.07% to 103.6 level.
(With inputs from agencies)
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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
