Nifty, Sensex open flat as banks dampen sentiment; IT stocks gain more
The broader market, particularly the mid and small-cap indices, extended their outperformance, climbing 0.2 and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex kicked off the day on a subdued note after banking stocks weighed on market sentiment. With US Fed interest rate cuts looming, investors are now keenly awaiting clues on just how deep those cuts will go.
At about 9:20 am, the Sensex was up 122.70 points or 0.15 percent at 81,834.46, and the Nifty was up 21.20 points or 0.08 percent at 25,039.00. About 1889 shares advanced, 755 shares declined, and 118 shares unchanged.
Follow our LIVE market blog for all the latest updates
“The market has already factored a rate cut but investors are now waiting for the quantum of the rate and RBI’s director of cut in tandem with the US. For now, the market is likely to consolidate above 25,000 with a positive bias as both foreign and domestic investors have turned net buyers,” Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at WealthMills Securities, said.
Foreign institutional investors have bought shares worth Rs 1.29 lakh crore, while domestic institutional buyers have bought shares worth Rs 3.13 lakh crore since the start of the year.
Continuing the momentum from yesterday, the broader market, particularly the mid and small-cap indices, extended their outperformance, climbing 0.2 and 0.4 percent, respectively. Analysts caution that while some areas within this space may be overvalued, the broader market hasn’t yet hit its peak. For the record, the two have beaten the NIfty’s year-to-date gains comfortably.
“Traders should focus on stock selection and take advantage of dips to add quality stocks to their portfolios. Additionally, it’s advisable to closely monitor the performance of the US markets and the participation of major banking stocks for market momentum,” Ajit Mishra, senior vice president at Religare Broking, said.
Among sectors, Nifty IT and Auto were the top gainers, rising up to 0.5 percent. Stocks such as Infosys, LTIMindtree and Wipro helped the IT index higher. Bank Nifty fell prey to profit taking after a decent start to the week. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and SBI were the top losers on the index.
“The minor pull back towards close is in respect towards the achievement of the initial objective of 25,075, which also indirectly signals not to chase prices higher. Thus we prefer to be on a wait and watch mode for playing our further objectives of 25,150-365. We will begin however with hopes of an upswing towards 25,075 again as long as 24,870 holds, while a direct fall below 24,919-870 could expose 24,700. Such a fall is less expected today though,” Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
LTIMindtree, Wipro, M&M, Tata Motors, and Infosys were among the major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were ONGC, Axis Bank, Shriram Finance, Divis Labs and NTPC.
“Nvidia’s earnings on August 28th will be closely watched, as any disappointment could disrupt AI-related stocks. Meanwhile, expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut on September 18th are building, with traders pricing in a 68 percent chance of a 25-basis point cut,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President at Mehta Equities, said.
Bymoneycontrol
