At 9:22 am, the BSE Sensex was up 172 points, or 0.23%, at 76,343, while the Nifty50 gained 48 points, or 0.21%, to trade at 23,093.
From the Sensex pack, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, M&M, Bajaj Finserv, Zomato, and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers, opening up to 2% higher. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, and Titan opened with losses.
The Nifty Financial index stocks surged up to 4% after data showed India’s retail inflation eased to a five-month low in January, driven by cooling food prices, strengthening expectations of a rate cut to support growth.
Meanwhile, the Nifty IT index stocks opened up to 2% lower as data indicated that US consumer inflation rose more than expected in January, reducing the likelihood of multiple rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Among individual stocks, HAL shares rose nearly 3% in early trade after Q3 profit jumped 14% YoY to Rs 1,440 crore on strong defence demand.Kotak Bank shares rose 2.2% in early trade after the RBI lifted its ban on the private lender from issuing credit cards and onboarding clients digitally.The benchmark Nifty is down 12.3% from its all-time high levels hit in September. The broader markets have fared worse, with the smallcap index trading about 19% below its record high.
Experts View
“When the market is in oversold territory, some triggers can ignite a rally. The Indian market is in highly oversold territory and, therefore, is likely to rally on positive news expected from the Trump-Modi talks today. Some agreement is likely between the US and India on reciprocal tariffs,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
“A positive domestic trigger is the better-than-expected decline in CPI inflation in January to 4.31% from 5.22 % in December 2024. The decline in inflation trajectory justifies the MPC’s rate cut this month and creates a favourable condition for another 25 bp rate cut in April,” Vijayakumar said.
Global Markets
US and European stock futures rallied on Thursday on optimism over prospects of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, offsetting a jump in Treasury yields as hot inflation threatens to close the door to any policy easing in the US this year.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures climbed 1%. Nasdaq futures rose 0.4% while S&P 500 futures gained 0.2%. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.1% while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.3%.
FII/DII Tracker
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers for the sixth consecutive session on February 12, offloading equities worth Rs 4,969 crore. Meanwhile, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 5,929 crore on the same day.
More to come…
