Sensex Today: The domestic equity markets on Wednesday opened firmly amid mixed global cues and falling crude oil prices. The Sensex was up 131.94 points or 0.23 per cent at 57279.26, and the Nifty was up 24.80 points or 0.15 per cent at 17008.30. About 1083 shares have advanced, 539 shares declined, and 125 shares are unchanged.
HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, Power Grid Corp, NTPC and Infosys were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were ICICI Bank, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Hindalco Industries and Maruti Suzuki.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Even though the trend of FII selling being countered by DII buying continued yesterday too the huge FII selling of Rs 4612 crores overwhelmed the DII buying of Rs 2,430 crores dragging the Nifty down sharply by 257 points. Globally sentiments turned negative with IMF downgrading global growth to 2.7 per cent in 2023 and the market concerns surrounding financial stability in UK. An important trend in the market is that FIIs are hugely net short in the derivatives market while retail and HNIs are long. If the market mood suddenly turns there can be massive short covering in the market leading to a sharp rally. A possible trigger for this is positive data from US inflation data coming tomorrow. So watch out for the crucial US CPI numbers for signs of inflation cooling off. Even though the sentiments are negative long-term investors can slowly accumulate high-quality stocks in financials, capital goods, telecom, and IT.”
Rupee Opens
The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 82.27 per dollar on Wednesday against the previous close of 82.32.
Global Cues
Asian stocks stayed at two-year lows on Wednesday, after a strengthening U.S. dollar, instability in the UK bond market, and forthcoming US inflation data spelled a wild session on Wall Street and further volatility for investors.
Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday after a mixed close on Wall Street following the IMF’s downcast economic outlook, with investors remaining cautious about the impact of inflation. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.08 per cent, or 21.21 points, at 26,380.04 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.16 per cent, or 2.93 points, to 1,868.31.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended lower on Tuesday, with indications from the Bank of England that it would support the country’s bond market for just three more days adding to market jitters.
Oil prices fell for a third straight session on Wednesday as investors fretted about a hit to fuel demand from growing risks of a global recession and tightening COVID-19 curbs in China.
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