Sensex, Nifty open in green, experts say big catalyst for India will be relief in US tariffs

MUMBAI: The Indian stock markets opened higher on Friday, with all major indices remaining in green territory, exhibiting strong gains. On the opening of the trading session today, the Sensex was up about 200 points at 81,758.95, while the Nifty 50 at National Stock Exchange (NSE) was up about 60 points at 25,074.45.

On the Sensex, the stocks of Infosys, TCS, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, Tata Motors emerged as the major gainers, while losers were Eternal, UltraTech Cement, ITC, HUL, HDFC Bank.

Observing the markets, Ajay Bagga, market and banking expert, opined, “Indian markets are pointing to a positive start. The big catalyst for India will be a US tariff relief, which could happen in the next few weeks if not sooner. The other catalyst that looms is the September 22 cut in consumption taxes under the GST 2.0 reforms and tax cuts”.

Siddharth Vora, head of Quant and fund manager, PL Asset Management, said, “As market sentiment improves, we are turning bullish on India. Valuations remain neutral, and our models indicate that the economy has entered a risk-recovery cycle,” he added.

Vora thinks that the biggest concerns or obstacles related to tariff uncertainty (such as potential changes in import/export duties) and the selling of stocks by foreign institutional investors have mostly passed. “Strong domestic macros — robust GDP growth, GST reforms, tax and rate cuts, low inflation, healthy liquidity, supportive DXY and bond yields, alongside peaked-out downgrades and mutual fund cash levels at 5-6 per cent–all point to a firm base for Indian equities,” he added.

Experts note that although global risks remain, the strengthening US-India dialogue, steady domestic investment flows, and improving factor spreads are creating favourable conditions for a broad-based recovery over the next 12 to 18 months.

On Thursday, the benchmark index Nifty 50 traded within a tight range of just 97 points, reflecting a lack of strong directional momentum. Despite the subdued intraday movement, the index managed to close the session with a modest gain of 0.13 per cent, settling just above the psychologically significant 25000 mark.

A noteworthy technical observation is the formation of indecisive candlesticks over the past four consecutive trading sessions, indicating hesitation among market participants. However, during this phase, the index has consistently registered higher lows, which suggests that buying interest on dips remains intact, even in the absence of a clear trend, according to the SBI Securities. (ANI)