Stock Market Today: Sensex And Nifty Pare Early Gains Amid Volatility. Power, Bank Gain

Stock Market Today: On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, TCS emerged early gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday pared early gains and turned flat amid volatility after hitting new all-time highs. At 10.15 am, the BSE Sensex was at 73,886, marginally up 9 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 22,428, down 7 points.

Stock update

On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, TCS emerged early gainers. On the down side, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Airtel, Nestle, ICICI Bank, SBI were among the losers.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index rose 0.6 per cent, while the Smallcap advanced 1 per cent.

Sectoral update

Sectorally, power index gained 1 per cent and Nifty Bank index rose 0.5 per cent. On the other hand, selling can be seen in the auto, capital goods, FMCG and oil & gas stocks.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 27 points to close at 73,877, while the NSE Nifty50 closed at 22,435, down 19 points.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said global and domestic cues indicate that the market is likely to consolidate in the coming days and start responding to Q4 results as they start coming. So, Q4 results will be the next major trigger for the market from a sectoral and stock-specific perspective. "Market expects good results from autos, capital goods, telecom and select pharmaceuticals. Financials, too, will report good results despite some NIM compression and, therefore, are likely to be favoured by investors," he said.

Global Markets 

Asian markets remained inactive today, while European markets concluded Wednesday's trading session on a positive note. Conversely, the US markets displayed a mixed performance, witnessing gains in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices, whereas the Dow recorded a slight decline.

According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) divested equities amounting to Rs 2,213.56 crore on Wednesday.

The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, saw a rise of 0.37 percent, reaching $88.68 per barrel.

Rupee Gains 11 Paise

In contrast, the Indian rupee exhibited a recovery during early Thursday trading, strengthening by 11 paise to 83.42 against the US dollar, supported by favorable domestic equity trends. However, investor confidence was dampened by persistently high crude oil prices and continuous outflows of foreign funds, as noted by forex traders.

Additionally, traders adopted a cautious stance ahead of the Reserve Bank's upcoming rate-setting panel decision scheduled for Friday. The local currency opened at 83.44 against the greenback in the interbank foreign exchange market, reaching an intraday low of 83.45 and a high of 83.42, marking an increase of 11 paise compared to the previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee had weakened by 11 paise, closing at 83.53 against the US dollar.