Ahead of key US inflation data, Indian benchmark indices closed marginally higher on Thursday, led by energy and auto stocks.
The BSE benchmark Sensex rose 63 points or 0.09% to settle at 71,721. The NSE Nifty gained 28 points or 0.13% to end at 21,647.
From the Sensex stocks, index heavyweight Reliance Industries surged 2.5%. UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Power Grid also closed higher, while Infosys, HUL, Wipro, and L&T settled with cuts.
Information technology stocks were subdued ahead of quarterly results from bellwethers later in the day. IT companies’ forecasts will be in focus as their results are expected to be subdued on weak spending by key US clients.
US inflation data, due later in the day, will also be on investors’ radar.
A soft print will likely fortify bets of a rate cut in March, making equities, and IT stocks in particular, attractive.
Nifty Oil & Gas closed 1.5% higher, led by Reliance Industries, Gujarat Gas, and MGL. Nifty Auto also closed over 1% higher, led by Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, and TVS Motor Company. On the other hand, Nifty FMCG, IT, Media, Metal, Realty and Pharma closed in the red.
Among individual stocks, Polycab India closed 20.5% lower after the Income Tax department detected “unaccounted cash sales” of about Rs 1,000 crore after recently raiding the Polycab group.
Easy Trip Planners, which operates the online travel portal EaseMyTrip, closed 17% higher on a continued uptrend that followed the Maldives row.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 2,357 stocks gained, 1,473 declined, and 107 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Experts View
“In anticipation of inflation data from the US, the Indian market exhibited range-bound trade. Though investors anticipate US inflation to ease, global markets, expecting a CY24 interest rate cut, have already priced in optimism,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
“Profit booking occurred amid moderating Q3 corporate earnings and concerns about premium valuations. Selling pressure on IT stocks stemmed from weak earnings estimates,” Nair said.
Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares, said, “In a well-defined range of 21,470-21,800, it appears that the index is forming a Bullish Flag pattern and one can expect a sharp uptick after the pattern breakout.”
Global Markets
World stock markets rose on Thursday ahead of key US inflation data. MSCI’s top world index was up 0.3% as London, Paris, and Frankfurt all swept higher, and after Tokyo’s Nikkei breached the 35,000 point barrier for the first time since 1990 overnight in Asia. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.3%.
Crude Oil
Oil prices rose on Thursday after an oil tanker was boarded by an armed group in Oman, raising the prospect of escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures gained $1.03, or 1.3%, to $77.83 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 98 cents, or 1.4%, to $72.35, though gains were capped by a surprise build in US crude stockpiles.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee ended little changed against the dollar on Thursday. The rupee was at 83.0275 to the dollar compared with 83.0250 in the previous session.
(With inputs from agencies)
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