Stock market today: Indian equity markets opened higher on Friday, following the positive trend in global markets. The BSE Sensex gained 515 points while the Nifty50 rose 151 points to trade above 22,100.
Stock market today
: Indian equity markets opened higher on Friday, following the positive trend in
global markets
. The
BSE Sensex
gained 515 points while the
Nifty50
rose 151 points to trade above 22,100. At 10:45 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 72,788.91, up 385 points or 0.53%. Nifty50 was at 22.085.45, up 128 points or 0.58%.
Auto and energy stocks led the gains, with NTPC, ITC, Axis Bank, JSW Steel, and Power Grid being the top gainers on the Sensex, rising over 1% each in early trade.
However, Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, and HDFC Bank opened in the red.
Sectoral indices such as Nifty Auto, FMCG, Financials, Media, Metal, Consumer Durables, and Oil and Gas also opened higher. The broader market also witnessed gains, with Nifty Mid and Smallcap100 surging over 0.2%. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) gained 5% despite missing Q4 earnings expectations, as Citi maintained a ‘Buy’ call on the stock.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, attributed the sustained selling by FIIs to India’s underperformance compared to China and Hong Kong. He noted that “FIIs are selling not because of concerns relating to elections but because India is underperforming while China and Hong Kong are outperforming.”
Global markets were mostly positive, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.66% and Japan’s Nikkei gaining 1.6%. China stocks and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also posted gains. Wall Street closed higher overnight as higher-than-expected U.S. weekly jobless claims fuelled hopes of interest rate cuts.
Oil prices continued their upward trend, with Brent futures rising 48 cents to $84.36 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude growing 52 cents to $79.78, supported by signs of an improving economy in China and ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
The Indian rupee rose 1 paisa to 83.47 against the US dollar in early trade, while the dollar index rose 0.07% to 105.3 level.
