New Delhi: A day after it set new records benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices opened flat on Wednesday but continued to trade near their all-time high.
Nifty opened today at 23,723.10 down by 10.60 points or 0.04 per cent while the Sensex opened at 78,094.02.
At 10:22 am, Sensex was trading 130.88 points higher at 78,184.40, whereas Nifty was trading 16.55 points up at 23,737.85.
Among the sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange, Financial Services, IT, Media, and Private Banks opened in green while sectors such as Auto, FMCG, Metal, Pharma and PSU Banks opened in the red.
On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), UltraTech Cement, ICICI, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finserve, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Reliance opened in green while Asian Paints, Titan, and Maruti Suzuki among others opened in the red.
On Tuesday, Indian benchmark indices closed significantly higher after reaching new record levels earlier in the day. The Sensex surged 712.44 points or 0.92 per cent to finish at 78,053.52, while the Nifty 50 gained 183.45 points or 0.78 per cent, closing at 23,721.30. The Nifty 50 displayed a bullish trend on its daily chart, suggesting potential for a breakout above the broader range of 23,600 to 23,700 levels.
Yesterday’s all-time high was backed by a rise in stocks of IT and financial companies.
According to the market experts, the market upswing occurs due to the RBI data that showed the current account surplus for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24 was USD 5.7 billion, or 0.6 percent of GDP.
“A constant refrain during the last few months from many experienced investment experts has been that financials, particularly large-cap private banks, offer value buying opportunities. The expected breakout in some of these bluechips has happened during the last several days. These stocks are likely to remain resilient since their FY25 Q1 numbers will be very good,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, at Geojit Financial Services.
“A continued upward momentum in the short term, with attention on potential targets around 24,000. The banking sector remained a key driver of the Nifty’s rise, exhibiting resilience despite global market uncertainties,” said Varun Aggarwal MD, Profit Idea.
In the Asia-Pacific region, markets showed mixed performance. The Asia Dow rose by 1.66 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased by 0.36 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended flat. Conversely, China’s Shanghai Composite declined by 0.44 per cent.
Crude oil prices saw slight declines with WTI trading at USD 80.71 and Brent crude at USD 84.82 per barrel. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar against major currencies, rose by 0.18 per cent to 105.70.
Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert said, “This is the week of politics. UK Elections, US Presidential debate, election of Lok Sabha Speaker and then handover to French elections next week. On the macroeconomic front, US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Inflation numbers on Friday will set the tone for rate cut expectations. US technology stocks recovered last night and the Asia mood is upbeat today. Indian markets are flattish in the light of the strong recovery yesterday.” (ANI)
