Nifty, Sensex open flat amid FPI selling, Midcap and Smallcap gain

MUMBAI: The Indian stock markets opened flat on Friday as weak investor sentiment continued due to sustained selling by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and a subdued earnings season in the IT sector. The Nifty 50 index opened at 25,108.55, witnessing a marginal dip of 2.90 points, or 0.01 per cent. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex began the session at 82,193.62, declining by 65.62 points, or 0.08 per cent.

Experts attributed the weak market opening to the ongoing disappointing earnings season. Ajay Bagga, banking and market expert, said, “India is seeing continued FPI selling and another underwhelming earnings season for IT so far. As more bellwethers come out with their earnings, the guidance for the rest of the year and the next will provide the catalyst for Indian markets”.

He also highlighted global factors influencing investor mood. “Markets have been driven by concerns on US deficit and debt, Trump policy uncertainty, tariff’s impact and the White House criticism of the US Fed and Chair Powell, with markets unnerved by talk of Trump firing Powell. However, strong earnings and a stable US economy is providing a silver lining which markets are grasping to rally to all-time highs”, Bagga added.

In the broad market indices on NSE, Nifty 100 opened in red while Nifty Small cap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 opened in green with marginal gains. In the sectoral indices on NSE, Nifty IT up by 0.40 per cent, Nifty Metal also surged 0.51 per cent along with Nifty Auto which gained 0.23 per cent in opening. While the other sectoral indices like Nifty FMCG are down with Nifty Pharma, Nifty PSU bank.

According to SBI Securities, sectors like PSU Bank, Pharma, Healthcare, Automobile, Consumer Durable, FMCG, and India Tourism are expected to outperform in the short term. On the other hand, Defence and IT sectors are likely to underperform.

Akshay Chinchalkar, head of research at Axis Securities, noted technical indicators pointing to bearish momentum. “Technically speaking, the daily candle completed a bearish engulfing pattern, and that’s not surprising given that we’d mentioned that closing above 25245 and then 25340 was essential for bulls to make a comeback. So, 25000 remains the support level to watch while 25340 is vital resistance. Asian cues are mostly bullish this morning along with US index futures”, he said.

On the earnings front, several major companies are scheduled to announce their first-quarter results today. These include Reliance Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Indian Overseas Bank, LT Finance, Bandhan Bank, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Atul, Hatsun Agro Products, Indiamart Intermesh, Mastek, MPS, Aarti Drugs, Jayaswal Neco Industries, Garuda Construction and Engineering, Shiva Cement, Kerala Ayurveda, and Mahindra EPC Irrigation.

In other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and South Korea’s KOSPI index were trading under pressure. However, other indices showed gains at the time of filing this report. Taiwan Weighted Index surged by 1.15 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up by 0.96 per cent, and Singapore’s Straits Times rose by 0.34 per cent. (ANI)