Indian stock markets started Friday’s session on a firm footing. The NSE Nifty 50 climbed 47.25 points or 0.2%, opening at 23,296.75, while the BSE Sensex gained 105.39 points 0.14%, beginning the day at 76,865.20.
As of 2:25 PM today, the Sensex was trading at 77,267.19, up by more than 550 points, or 0.66%. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading at 23,435.45, gaining 185 points, or 0.80%. The markets were in full throttle post the presentation of the Economic Survey.
Apart from that, the domestic currency slipped to an all-time low of 86.65 against the US dollar.
In the pre-open session on Friday, the Sensex was at 77,073.03, up by 313.22 points or 0.41%, while the Nifty traded at 23,286.45, gaining 36.95 points or 0.16%.
Bank Nifty opened 136.15 points or 0.28% lower to trade at 49,175.80. The Nifty Midcap 100 gained 357.80 points, or 0.68%, to open at 53,072.05.
“Nifty had a volatile outing yesterday as a slump post noon saw a recovery in the final hour of trading. The index finished up for the third straight day and in doing so, now has its sights set on a resistance area that falls between 23387 – 23433, which also includes the bearish engulfing candle’s high from January 21st,” said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities.
The GIFT Nifty indicated a subdued opening for Indian equity indices on Friday, trading 25 points or 0.11% higher at 23,450. This suggests a cautious start for the NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex.
In the previous session on Thursday, the markets ended on a positive note. The Nifty 50 gained 86.40 points or 0.37% to close at 23,249.50, while the Sensex advanced 226.85 points or 0.30%, settling at 76,759.81.
Top gainers and losers
As of early trading, the top gainers from the Sensex pack include L&T (4.51%), Titan (2.27%), Infosys (1.51%), Maruti (1.50%), M&M (0.97%), and Tech Mahindra (0.93%). On the downside, the major losers are Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank.
The top 5 gainers in the early trading hours from the Nifty 50 pack include BEL, Powergrid, Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Airtel, and Cipla. On the losing side, the major decliners are Tata Motors, ITC Hotels, Adani Enterprises, Shriram Finance, and Bajaj Finance.
“The Budget – expectations and actuals – will influence the market today and tomorrow. Since we are going into the Budget without a pre-Budget rally, the probability of a rally, post Budget, will be high if the Budget delivers on growth stimulating initiatives like cuts in personal income tax. But it is important to understand that the impact of the Budget will last only for a few days, at best. The medium to long-term trend of the market will be dictated by GDP and earnings growth. Therefore, investors should look for cues on these crucial macro trends,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
“Market is strongly reacting to results with good results being rewarded and poor results getting punished. This has spiked the market volatility. Fairly-valued high quality largecap financials continue to be a safe sector for investors,” he added.