Indian markets open flat amid mildly bullish undertone

NEW DELHI: Indian equity markets opened largely flat on Monday, with benchmark indices witnessing marginal gains amid a mildly bullish undertone, supported by better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, resilient domestic demand and continued buying by foreign institutional investors. The BSE Sensex stood at 78,539.11 points, up 39.94 points or 0.05 per cent, while the NSE Nifty 50 was at 24,578.35 points, gaining 7.70 points or 0.03 per cent during the opening session.

Commenting on the market outlook, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said the underlying market sentiment remains positive, with corporate earnings providing the key support. “The undertone of the market is mildly bullish. The principal bullish factor is the better-than-expected Q1 results. With the earnings season coming to an end this week, vast majority of companies have reported earnings growth that has beaten expectations.”

Vijayakumar noted resilient domestic demand is likely to support revenue and earnings growth in the second quarter, particularly across key sectors. “Particularly, the performance of banking and financial services, autos, pharmaceuticals, metals and digital platform companies will continue to be good despite the headwinds like deficient monsoons,” Vijayakumar added.

He also highlighted improving monsoon conditions and continued foreign investor buying as positive factors for the market. “Deficiency in monsoon has been partly compensated by the good July rains. FIIs turning buyers in July and continuing their buying in most of the days in August, so far, is another positive factor. These positive factors have the potential to keep the market resilient,” Vijayakumar stated.

Meanwhile, Asian markets largely traded with a positive bias. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 2.03 per cent to 66,940.00, while Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted gained 1.87 per cent to 45,068.92. China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.20 per cent at 3,947.91, while GIFT Nifty remained flat at 24,641.50.

US markets also ended higher in the previous session. The S&P 500 rose 0.62 per cent to 7,757.64, while the Nasdaq gained 1.30 per cent to 26,690.62. Dow Jones Futures were marginally lower by 0.07 per cent at 53,999.12. At the time of reporting, Brent crude rose 0.95 per cent to USD 84.35 per barrel, while crude oil gained 0.81 per cent to USD 78.81 per barrel. Gold prices declined 0.38 per cent to USD 4,326.83.

On the technical front, Shrikant Chouhan of Kotak Securities said the near-term outlook remains positive, but a sustained uptrend would require the Nifty and Sensex to cross key resistance levels. “The short-term market outlook remains positive, but a fresh uptrend rally is possible only after the dismissal of 24,800/79400. Above this level, the market could move up to 25000/80200.”

Chouhan said a break below the immediate support levels could trigger further selling pressure. “On the downside, below 24,600-78400, the market could retest levels of 24,500-24,450/78,100-77,900. A breakdown of 24,450/77,900 could accelerate selling pressure, and the index could slip further to 24,200/77,200,” Chouhan added. (ANI)