Mumbai, April 10: Despite weak global signals due to ongoing tensions in West Asia, the Indian stock market opened positively on the last trading day of the week, Friday. Major domestic benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, recorded gains of over 0.50 percent.
Concerns remain regarding the fragile ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran, which has been in place for two weeks.
During this period, the BSE Sensex opened at 77,121.01, up 489.36 points or 0.64 percent from its previous close of 76,631.65. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty50 opened at 23,880.55, gaining 105.45 points or 0.44 percent from its last close of 23,775.10. The Bank Nifty index also rose by 360.55 points or 0.66 percent, opening at 55,182.25.
As of the time of writing (around 9:38 AM), the Sensex was trading at 77,129.47, up 497.82 points or 0.65 percent, while the Nifty50 was at 23,934.95, up 159.85 points or 0.67 percent.
Broader markets outperformed the key benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices showing gains of over 1 percent.
Sector-wise, Nifty Metals, Nifty Auto, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Media, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Realty, and Nifty Oil & Gas all recorded increases of over 1 percent. Additionally, Nifty Pharma saw a modest gain of 0.14 percent, while Nifty IT experienced a decline of over 1 percent.
In the Nifty 50 pack, shares of Shriram Finance, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Eicher Motors, ICICI Bank, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv, and SBI showed the most significant gains. Conversely, Infosys, TCS, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, and Tech Mahindra experienced the largest declines.
A market expert commented, “The decline we have seen in the stock markets may not seem as significant compared to the changes and shocks in the energy markets. However, it reflects the expectation that energy prices are likely to decrease. Our baseline estimate is that energy prices will gradually decline over the next three to six months.”
The expert further noted that this could exert some pressure on economic growth and lead to a slight increase in inflation. However, overall, the environment will remain positive for equity markets, especially as we approach the upcoming earnings season, which is expected to be quite strong.
The expert indicated that 23,660 remains a crucial support level for Nifty. As long as the index stays above this level, the bullish trend may continue, potentially opening the path to 24,250.
However, if Nifty falls below 23,660, a gap filling could occur, leading the index down to the 23,200 level.
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