Indian stocks open flat on Wednesday; Sensex, Nifty both marginally up

NEW DELHI: Indian stock benchmarks traded largely steady with upward bias on Wednesday, extending gains for the fifth day, taking positive cues from strong economic fundamentals such as comfortable inflation levels, firm economic growth parameters. Firm global cues also lent support to the Indian stock indices.

At the time of filing this report, Sensex traded at 82,489.52 points, up 97.80 points or 0.12 per cent, and Nifty traded at 25,135.45 points, up 31.20 points or 0.12 per cent. Nifty auto, media, oil and gas were the top-moving sectoral indices, while PSU, private bank, and consumer durables slipped. International gold prices were trading at USD 3,360 per ounce, up 0.5 per cent.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said “Market is likely to continue in the consolidation range with a slight upward bias”. “Liquidity will support a mild rally. But a strong rally needs earnings support. There are no indications yet about a strong recovery in earnings. This will cap any short-term rally in the market”, Vijayakumar added.

Markets are also awaiting for clarity on the US-China deal front, said veteran financial market expert Ajay Bagga. “US and China agreed to agree on an already agreed trade deal that was discussed at Geneva and discussed again at London and will now be discussed with the respective delegations with Presidents Trump and Xi , who will then discuss it with each other and hopefully reach a consensus on the way ahead. Confusing? You bet. Markets are waiting for clarity”, Bagga said.

Indian stock markets outperformed global markets over the past few weeks, as volatility continued to reign in global markets over possible forthcoming US reciprocal tariffs. A comfortable inflation number in India also somewhat supported the domestic equity indices.

In 2024, Sensex and Nifty accumulated a growth of about 9-10 per cent each. In 2023, Sensex and Nifty gained 16-17 per cent, on a cumulative basis. In 2022, they gained a mere 3 per cent each. (ANI)