Indian markets rebound and open in green; experts say short position of FPIs a concern

MUMBAI: The Indian stock indices rebounded on Wednesday, opening higher following yesterday’s substantial decline. At the opening of the trading session today, BSE Sensex was at 81,278.49, up 130.27 or 0.16 per cent, while Nifty 50 at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was up 35.50 points or 0.14 per cent at 24,613.80.

At NSE in the initial hour, the major gainers are Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Shriram Finance, Tech Mahindra, and JSW Steel. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, Asian Paints, and Eicher Motors are the losers. In the previous trading session, the market participants booked their profits, following the normalcy due to the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

The equity indices declined substantially on Tuesday and closed in the red. The market analysts said that foreign portfolio investment (FPI) outflow in the future markets remains a worrisome situation.

“Indian markets saw some profit booking after the 4-year highest surge on Monday post the tenuous ceasefire developments on the Indo-Pak borders. FPIs saw a net outflow in the cash market , but what is more worrisome is the huge selling they did in the futures market,” said Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert.

On the positive side, the market participants are likely to react positively to the latest consumer price index data released on Tuesday, shaping the buying sentiment going forward.

“For now domestic retail investors have picked up this selling with a contra net positive position in the futures. DIIs also bought heavily, a result of both the investment of excess cash holdings as well as a surge in flows into mutual funds on the back of a relief rally post the ceasefire,” he noted. Sector-specific and stock-specific action is expected with the indices being range-bound for now, Bagga added.

Observing the market movements, Wealth Management firm Bernstein added in its note that Indian stock markets are now back to usual business after a dramatic weekend that culminated in an India-Pakistan ceasefire.

“Equity markets in India are rebounding and our upgrade in Jan largely reflected a view that bottoming macro and limited impact of global events should support a bottom for Nifty below 22K and drive upside as positive fundamentals emerge”, Bernstein said in the note.

Observing the markets, Sundar Kewat, Technical and Derivatives Analyst, Ashika Institutional Equity, said, “Geopolitical tensions remained in focus as market participants monitored the fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan, adding to the cautious sentiment”. (ANI)