Indian benchmark equity indices opened higher for the third consecutive day on Thursday, tracking a rebound in Asian peers, with investors awaiting quarterly results and a key US inflation reading for cues on interest rates.
The BSE Sensex was trading 284 points or 0.40% higher at 71,942. Nifty50 was trading at 21,706 up 88 points or 0.41% at around 9.24 am.
From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, and NTPC opened in the green, while only Infosys, HCL Tech, and Wipro opened in the red.
In today’s trade, IT stocks will be in focus as market leaders TCS and Infosys are due to report quarterly results post-market hours, kicking off the earnings season in earnest.
Among individual stocks, Polycab India opened with a 10% lower circuit amid reports that the Income Tax department found unaccounted cash sales of Rs 1,000 crore.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Consumer Durables rose 1.15%, and Nifty Auto surged 0.63%. Whereas Nifty IT and Realty opened in the red. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 rose 0.45%, while Nifty Smallcap100 gained 0.4%.
Experts View
“There is no consistency in FII and DII behaviour so far this month. They are doing alternative bouts of buying and selling which is restricting the market in a range. The market needs triggers to break out or breakdown from this range,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“A probable negative trigger can be a slightly hawkish statement from the Fed postponing the rate cuts which the market expects to begin by March 2023. The US CPI inflation data due tonight will provide cues regarding this,” Vijayakumar added.
Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, “Nifty can find support at 21,500 followed by 21,450 and 21,400. On the higher side, 21,700 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 21,750 and 21,800.”
Global Markets
Asian stocks rose on Thursday ahead of US inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s thinking on rate cuts.
The Nikkei was last up 1.9% at 35,085 on Thursday. The blue-chip CSI 300 Index edged higher in early trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.5%.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed higher as mega caps rallied, but gains were limited ahead of inflation reports and major bank earnings later in the week. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.14%.
FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors net sold shares worth Rs 1,721 crore on Wednesday, while domestic investors net bought Rs 2,080 crore of shares, according to exchange data.
Oil Prices Rise
Oil prices ticked higher in Asian trading as markets measured rising tensions in the Middle East against a surprise build in US crude stockpiles that pushed oil benchmarks down about 80 cents in the previous session.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 24 cents, or 0.34%, to reach $71.60 a barrel. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose 29 cents, or 0.38%, to $77.09 a barrel.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee was flat at $83.03 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, declined 0.14% to 102.22 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)
