Stock market opens high as Trump indicates ‘wonderful trade deals’ for India, US

Mumbai:  The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump announced plans to cement “some wonderful trade deals” for India and the US.

The Sensex was trading 279.95 points or 0.37 per cent up at 76,418.92 while the Nifty climbed 84 points or 0.36 per cent at 23,115.40.

Nifty Bank was up 196.75 points or 0.40 per cent at 49,556.60. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 51,014.20 after climbing 133 points or 0.26 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 15,953.60 after dropping 20.25 points or 0.13 per cent.

“The Nifty 50 has formed a red candle on the daily scale, which indicates selling pressure at higher levels,” said Hrishikesh Yedve from Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates Ltd.

“The 21-Days Simple Moving Average is placed at 23,270, making the 23,270–23,300 zone a strong hurdle.On the downside, 22,780 will act as a key support level,” he added.

He advised traders to adopt a buy-on-dips strategy as long as the index holds 22,780.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, M&M, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers. Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top losers.

In the last trading session US markets settled higher, Dow Jones gained 0.77 per cent to close at 44,711.43. The S&P 500 added 1.04 per cent to 6,115.07 and the Nasdaq climbed 1.50 per cent to close at 19,945.64.

In the Asian markets, Jakarta, China, Seoul, Bangkok and Hong Kong were trading in green. Whereas Japan was trading in red.

In terms of institutional activity, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling equities for the seventh consecutive day on February 13, offloading equities worth Rs 2,789.91 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) provided support by purchasing equities worth Rs 2,934.50 crore on the same day.

Investors will closely monitor global market trends, crude oil prices, and institutional flows to gauge further market direction, according to Aakash Shah of Choice Broking.

–IANS