Stock market today: Dalal Street continued to have a successful day on Friday as the key Indian equities indexes, the BSE Sensex and Nifty50, opened higher. Nifty50 was above 22,600 while the BSE Sensex started up 100 points. The BSE Sensex was up 93 points, or 0.13%, at 74,432.51 at 9:18 AM. The Nifty50 was up 30 points, or 0.13%, at 22,600.30.
Driven by optimistic attitude throughout the world, the Indian stock market continued to rise on Thursday for a fifth day in a row. On the monthly F&O expiry day, local investors continued to be positive despite a dip in other Asian and European markets and a severe decline in US Dow Futures. Frontline banking and metal stock advances drove the main indexes higher.
"On the monthly F&O expiry day, investors increased their optimistic wagers, causing benchmark indexes to rise for the fifth straight session, driven by gains in metal and frontline banking sectors. Local investors were unaffected even by the steep declines in other Asian and European indexes and the US Dow Futures, according to Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President (Research) at Mehta Equities, who was quoted by ET.
Notwithstanding the withdrawal of foreign institutional investors (FIIs), a sizable number of local investors have been drawn to the equities market by India's strong development prospects and the expectation that the ruling party would win a majority of the seats in the next elections.
Neeraj Sharma, AVP Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates, says the Nifty is expected to continue its upward trend and may try to surpass its all-time high of 22,776, with short-term support levels at 22,500 and 22,300, and resistance around 22,780 and 23,000.
Shocked by statistics indicating slower-than-expected U.S. economic growth and persistent inflation, as well as a sell-off in large-cap equities sparked by Meta Platforms' poor earnings, Wall Street stocks finished lower on Thursday in the worldwide markets.There were losses on the Nasdaq, S&P, and Dow.
Conversely, oil prices increased during Friday's early trading session as investors took into account the U.S. Treasury Secretary's remarks on the nation's economic resilience and the continuous supply issues stemming from the Middle East war.
Ahead of a Bank of Japan meeting where low interest rates are anticipated, the Japanese yen held close to a 34-year low vs the dollar and decade lows against other currencies. Amidst a downturn in most of its Asian counterparts and interbank dollar sales, the Indian rupee finished Thursday virtually unaltered as the domestic currency managed to maintain its strength above a crucial support level.
There are forty-one firms scheduled to release their fourth quarter profits on Friday, including HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, SBI Life Insurance Company, and SBI Cards and Payment Services.
