Indian equity indices opened Friday’s trading session on a muted note. The NSE Nifty 50 opened flat at 24,493. The BSE Sensex opened at 80,083.
Similarly, Bank Nifty opened flat at 53,828. Underperforming the benchmarks, the small and midcap stocks opened the day lower. The Nifty Midcap fell 132 points to 55,915.
“A significant takeaway from the market trend yesterday is that despite the big buying of Rs 6,920 crore by DIIs, overwhelming the FII selling of Rs 3,856 crore, Nifty drifted down by 211 points. The reason for this important market trend is the increasing short build-up by the FIIs. The negative sentiments in the market triggered by the 50% Trump tariff and the high valuations in India have encouraged the FIIs to increase their short positions. The September series historically has been known for big moves. A quick decision on the tariff policy can lead to a reversal of sentiments and short covering. We don’t know whether this will happen,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.
“Technically, Nifty remains under pressure below its key DMAs and the 25,000 mark, with strong support at 24,337. Wall Street’s strength on hopes of a September Fed rate cut offers some comfort, though the Fed is likely to wait for the PCE inflation data (29 Aug) and jobs report (5 Sept) before acting,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President of Research at Mehta Equities.
Let’s take a look at the key factors to watch out for today’s trading session
Early gainers and laggards
In early trade, among the Nifty 50, top gainers at this hour were Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, and Asian Paints. On the flip side, the key laggards in the Nifty 50 pack included Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid Corp, and ICICI Bank.
Major movers on Friday
The stocks that remained under pressure included ITC, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, and Reliance Industries, which were the major movers in the morning trade.