MUMBAI– Indian equities opened with modest gains Friday, buoyed by strong global cues and growing expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next week.
At 9:25 a.m., the Sensex was up 114 points, or 0.14 percent, at 81,663, while the Nifty rose 39 points, or 0.16 percent, to 25,045. Broader indices outperformed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 climbing 0.43 percent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 advancing 0.36 percent.
Among the Nifty’s top gainers were Adani Enterprises, Infosys, TCS, NTPC, and Axis Bank. Bajaj Finserv, Titan Company, and Tata Consumer Products were among the early losers. Sectorally, Nifty Auto led with a 1.01 percent gain, followed by Nifty IT (up 0.74 percent) and Nifty Metal (up 0.59 percent). Nifty FMCG was the biggest drag, slipping 0.62 percent.
Investor sentiment was also lifted by reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has invited India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for talks with the U.S. Trade Representative on a potential trade deal, a development seen as easing bilateral trade tensions.
On Thursday, the Nifty broke through the 25,000 mark and closed at its highest level since August 21, extending its winning streak to seven consecutive sessions. Analysts said the short-term trend remains bullish, with the index holding above its 5-, 20-, and 50-day moving averages. Immediate resistance is pegged at 25,153, derived from a previous swing high.
The optimism in India mirrored global momentum. U.S. markets closed at fresh record highs Thursday after weekly jobless claims hit a four-year peak of 263,000, reinforcing expectations for Fed rate cuts despite August inflation rising to 2.9 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.36 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.72 percent, and the S&P 500 gained 0.85 percent. Futures markets now assign a 94.8 percent probability to a quarter-point cut next week.
Asian markets also opened higher. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.91 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.42 percent, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.15 percent, while China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes edged up 0.24 and 0.15 percent, respectively.
On the flows front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Rs 3,472 crore worth of Indian equities Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought Rs 4,046 crore. (Source: IANS)
