sensex news: Sensex, Nifty off to a slow start fueled by auto and energy stocks

The BSE Sensex was up 89 points, or 0.11%, at 81,799, while the Nifty50 rose 19 points, or 0.08%, to 25,036—just 42 points shy of its all-time high—around 9:22 am.

From the Sensex pack, M&M, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Titan, Sun Pharma, and Reliance Industries opened with gains, while HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, TCS, Bajaj Finserv, and Tata Steel opened with cuts.

Among individual stocks, NBCC opened over 8% higher as the company’s Board of Directors is set to meet on August 31 to consider issuing bonus shares to its equity shareholders.

LTIMindtree shares traded 3% higher after the Karnataka High Court stayed GST demand order worth Rs 378 crore till the next date of hearing, which is yet to be notified.Sector-wise, Nifty Bank, FMCG, IT, Metal, Realty, Consumer Durables, and Pharma opened in the red, while Auto and Media sectors posted gains. In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.3%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 opened flat.Experts View
“The market has entered a consolidation phase with low volatility and this trend is likely to continue in the near-term. Falling bond yields in the US has restrained FII selling and they have even turned marginal buyers. Going by previous trends, DIIs are likely to sell if FIIs continue to buy. This trend will keep the market within a range with a slight upward bias. This is a desirable and healthy trend, given the elevated valuations in the market,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said, “Markets are witnessing selling pressure at rises and could now enter a consolidation phase. Nifty could now take support from 24850 while 25130 could offer resistance.”

Global Markets
Asian markets opened lower on the day, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index shedding 0.4%. Wall Street equities closed marginally higher overnight ahead of a much-anticipated quarterly report from Nvidia and U.S. economic data.

The S&P 500 went up about 0.2% overnight and futures drifted 0.1% lower in Asia, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3%.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors (FII) remained net buyers of Indian shares for a fourth session in a row on Tuesday, purchasing shares worth Rs 1,504 crore on a net basis.

Domestic institutional investors (DII) were also buyers of Indian stocks for 15 sessions until Monday.

Crude Oil
Oil rebounded on Wednesday after a sharp drop in the previous session ended a three-day streak of gains as investors have whipsawed between concerns about potential supply losses from Libya and the Middle East and worries about global fuel demand.

Brent crude futures were up 25 cents, or 0.31%, at $79.80 a barrel at 0209 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.23%, to trade at $75.70.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee fell 2 paise to 83.95 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, rose 0.18% to 100.73 level.

(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)