Indian markets open higher on global tech surge and trade optimism

NEW DELHI: Indian equity benchmarks opened on a positive note on Thursday, tracking a strong overnight rally in US technology stocks and optimism surrounding international trade negotiations. The BSE Sensex gained 414.03 points, or 0.55 per cent, to stand at 75,732.42 points, while the NSE Nifty 50 advanced 189.70 points, or 0.80 per cent, to reach 23,848.70 points at the opening bell.

The sectoral market also traded in green, with all indices showing positive gains. Nifty PSU Bank led the rally, gaining 1.31 per cent to stand at 8,075.15, closely followed by Nifty Realty, up by 1.20 per cent at a current value of 776.25.

Heavyweight indices like Nifty Auto and Nifty Financial Services 25/50 also showed strong gains, standing at 26,159.55 (+0.95%) and 27,873.00 (+0.94%), respectively. Nifty Private Bank increased by 0.82 per cent to reach 26,242.40, while Nifty Media and Nifty Consumer Durables rose by 0.79 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively. Nifty Metal tracked slightly behind them with a 0.72 per cent gain at 13,281.40.

Nifty Health Care Index grew 0.55 per cent, Nifty FMCG by 0.48 per cent at 50,760.80, and Nifty Pharma rose by 0.44 per cent. Nifty Oil & Gas showed a modest 0.42 per cent increase, while Nifty IT registered the smallest gain on the list, moving up just 0.20 per cent to reach 29,244.90.

Market analysts advised market participants to remain watchful of specific resistance and support levels, characterizing the broader short-term structure as volatile and lacking a singular trend.

“We believe the short-term market structure is non-directional, and this non-directional activity is likely to continue in the near future. For day traders, 23,500/75,000 and 23,400/74,700 would act as immediate support zones, while 23,800-23,850/75,800-76,000 could act as key resistance areas for bulls. On the upside, after 23,850/76,000, the market could move towards 23,950-24,000/76,300-76,500, while failing to hold 23,400/74,500, the market could move towards 23,250-23,200/74,200-74,000”, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.

The domestic market momentum followed a significant surge in US indices. Nasdaq rose 1.54 per cent to 26,270.36 points, and the S&P 500 gained 1.08 per cent to reach 7,432.97 points, whereas Dow Jones Futures dipped to 49,939.95 points, down by 69.40 or (-0.14 per cent).

At the time of filing this report, Brent crude traded at $105.60 per barrel, up 0.55 per cent, while crude oil stood at $98.90, up by 0.65 per cent. On the other hand, gold declined by $4.28 to trade at $4,533.98.

Market experts attributed the positive domestic opening to a combination of geopolitical commentary and massive upcoming corporate listings in the technology sector.

“‘Final stage’ statement leads to ‘hope rally’ while threat of ‘nasty action’ is also made keeping market enthusiasm from exploding higher. Trump’s statement that negotiations with Iran were in the ‘final stage’ led to another hope rally on the US markets. A US semiconductor index surged 4.5 per cent as AI momentum boosted US indices even as oil prices feel more than 5 per cent, bond yields moderated and the US dollar was softer,” said Ajay Bagga, banking and market expert.

Bagga noted that Asian markets are also up strongly on Thursday morning, with the semiconductor boost seeing the South Korean index up more than 6 per cent. Indian stock futures are pointing to a half percentage gap-up opening.

“Given Trump has often triggered such hope rallies only to disappoint, we would be cautious in carrying longs overnight. Three big developments are great results and a strong guidance from Nvidia, with the stock falling post results in a typical sell the fact move. And SpaceXAI and OpenAI filing for massive IPOs which will add trillions of dollars to US market cap”, Bagga stated. (ANI)