Stock market today
:
BSE Sensex
and Nifty50, the Indian benchmark equity indices, moved up in trade on Monday. BSE Senses surged 300 points and
Nifty50
was near 22,500. At 9:20 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 74,041.80, up 312 points or 0.42%. Nifty50 was at 22,496.80, up 77 points or 0.34%.
The Indian stock market ended a positive last week on a down note, with the winning streak of five days coming to a halt on Friday.
This was attributed to profit-taking by investors and mixed global cues. However, Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal, expects the market momentum to pick up again, with a focus on individual stocks due to the ongoing earnings season and sector rotation.
Technical analysis by Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities indicates that the short-term trend of Nifty has reversed down after a significant rise from the lows. The immediate support level is at 22,300, and a breach below this could trigger further declines, he was quoted as saying by ET. The immediate resistance is at 22,625 levels.
In the United States, stock markets closed higher on Friday, boosted by strong performances from mega-cap growth stocks. This was driven by impressive quarterly results from technology giants Alphabet and Microsoft, along with moderate inflation data. Asian stocks also climbed, following the rally in US markets, as the inflation reading eased concerns about a more hawkish Federal Reserve. However, oil prices slipped in early Asian trading on Monday, reversing gains from Friday, as the US inflation data dampened prospects of interest rate cuts and strengthened the dollar, which hurts oil demand.
The US dollar was slightly weaker in early deals on Monday, thinned by a holiday in Japan, although the yen, euro, and sterling remained near the bottom of the ranges hit during Friday’s volatile session. In the Indian market, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net sellers at Rs 3,408 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 4,357 crore. The rupee declined 10 paise to close at 83.38 against the US dollar on Friday, affected by a strengthening American currency overseas and a selloff in domestic equities.
Several companies, including UltraTech Cement, Trent, and UCO Bank, are set to announce their fourth-quarter earnings today. The net short position of FIIs increased from Rs 55,322 crore on Thursday to Rs 99,077 crore on Wednesday. Vodafone Idea is the only stock in the ban period under the F&O segment, which includes companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.
