Indian stock market opens higher amid positive global cues

Mumbai:  The Indian stock market opened higher on Thursday amid positive global cues, including hope of an end to the conflict in Gaza, as buying was seen in the PSU bank and financial service sectors.

At around 9.22 am, Sensex was trading at 77,157.74 after rising 433.66 points or 0.57 per cent, while Nifty was trading at 23,349.15 after climbing 135.95 points or 0.59 per cent.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,175 stocks were trading in green, while 139 stocks were in red.

Nifty Bank was up 526.50 points or 1.08 per cent at 49,278.20. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 54,673.70 after adding 774.70 points or 1.44 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 17,636.85 after climbing 282.90 points or 1.63 per cent.

According to experts, macro indicators from the US suggest that as the swearing-in of Donald Trump nears, the Trump trade has peaked and the decline in US bond yields and the dollar index are indications of this.

“This downshift in the dollar index and bond yields has been assisted by the lower-than-expected CPI inflation in the US, again igniting hopes of more rate cuts by the Fed this year. Hope of an end to the conflict in Gaza is another major relief. This global backdrop is positive for the market,” according to market watchers.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Zomato, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, SBI, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finserv were the top gainers. Whereas, Hindustan Unilever Limited, ITC, Nestle India and Titan were the top losers.

Dow Jones climbed 1.65 per cent to close at 43,221.55. The S&P 500 raised 1.83 per cent to 5,949.91 and the Nasdaq climbed 2.45 per cent to close at 19,511.23 in the last trading session.

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

According to experts, investors should focus on large-caps which have been more stable than the mid and small caps. Segments with growth visibility like Pharma and health care, IT and discretionary consumption will remain resilient.

In the meantime, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,533.49 crore on January 15, on the other hand domestic institutional bought equities worth Rs 3,682.54 crore on the same day.

—IANS