Sensex, Nifty open higher after inflation cools, geo-political tensions ease

Mumbai:  The Indian frontline indices opened in the green on Wednesday after retail inflation hit multi-year low and geo-political tensions eased.

At around 9:25 am, Sensex was up 414 points or 0.51 per cent at 81,562 and Nifty was up 136 points or 0.55 per cent at 24,712.

Buying was seen in the midcap and smallcap stocks. Nifty midcap 100 index was up 510 points or 0.92 per cent at 56,030 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 132 points or 0.78 per cent at 17,035.

On the sectoral front, all indices were trading in the green. Auto, IT, PSU bank, FMCG, metal, energy, infra and PSE were major gainers.

“After a positive opening, Nifty can find support at 24,500 followed by 24,400 and 24,300. On the higher side, 24,700 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,800 and 24,850,” said Hardik Matalia from Choice Broking.

In the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Eternal, HCL Tech, M&M, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, TCS, SBI and NTPC were major gainers. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, HUL, Nestle and Kotak Mahindra Bank were major losers.

Earlier, India’s retail inflation fell to 3.16 per cent in April from 3.34 per cent in March, to its lowest level since July 2019.

“With crude oil prices sharply easing, domestic demand softer, and food prices contained, we expect the RBI to cut rates aggressively,” said Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities.

The Asian stock markets were trading in a mixed zone. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Jakarta were in the green, while Japan and Bangkok were in the red.

The US markets closed in the mixed zone on Tuesday. Main index Dow Jones ended in the red and technology index Nasdaq closed higher for a second straight day after softer-than-expected inflation numbers.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 476 crore on May 13, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying on the third day as they bought equities of Rs 4,273 crore on the same day.

–IANS