The Sensex and Nifty experienced marginal gains in early trading on Monday as investors sought firm cues amidst mixed trends in Asian markets. The 30-share Sensex edged up by 23.96 points, or 0.03 per cent to reach 72,450.60 points, with 16 constituents trading positively. Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance saw increases of over 1 percent.
Meanwhile, the broader Nifty rose by 32.35 points, or 0.15 per cent to 22,073.05 points, with 26 scrips in the index displaying positive trends. Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, noted that Asian shares began the week sluggishly, influenced by the dwindling prospects of early rate cuts worldwide, although there is optimism for a positive return in Chinese markets post-holiday.
With the US market closed on Monday for President’s Day, last week’s trading saw stocks ending in the red, marking weekly losses as investors evaluated inflation data and company earnings. However, the domestic equity indices have recorded gains over the past four trading sessions, with the Sensex climbing 376.26 points to close at 72,426.64 points on Friday, and the Nifty advancing by 129.95 points to end the day at 22,040.70 points.
On Friday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers, acquiring securities worth Rs 253.28 crore, as per exchange data. Jasani highlighted the resilience of the US stock market despite higher-than-expected inflation readings, attributing it to better-than-anticipated fourth-quarter earnings.
He said that while US inflation in January surpassed Wall Street expectations according to the consumer-price index and producer-price index, the overall trend remains downward.
(With PTI inputs)
