The key benchmark indices opened with strong gains on Thursday extending the rally into a third session. At 09:16 IST, the Sensex was up 201.82 points or 0.35 per cent at 58667.79, and the Nifty was up 61.90 points or 0.35 per cent at 17525.70. About 1274 shares have advanced, 678 shares declined, and 98 shares are unchanged.
PowerGrid, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Wipro, Tech M and L&T were the top Sensex gainers. Asian Paints, Maruti, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, meanwhile, were the top losers. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were muted with the former up 0.01 per cent and the latter 0.1 per cent down, respectively.
Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities, said: ” US stock markets closed in green as mega cap growth stocks powered up thanks to a pause in rising interest rates, and upbeat earnings reports. NASDAQ was up by 2.08 per cent to 14490.37 levels . Asian markets are trading at mix levels as investors await the release of US consumer inflation data. Nikkei gained 0.14 per cent, Shanghai composite down by 0.19 per cent.”
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce its verdict after a three-day meet on February 10. The rate setting panel is widely expected to increase the reverse repo rate or the rate at which the central The bank borrows short-term deposits from banks by at least 25 basis points. One bps is one hundredth of a percentage point. Along with this, the MPC is likely to change the policy stance to ‘neutral’ from ‘accommodative’, according to analysts.
“Indian markets will be in focus today as the Reserve Bank of India will announce its verdict after a three-day meet on February 10 and it is widely expected to increase the reverse repo rate or the rate at which the central bank borrows short-term deposits from banks by at least 25 basis points,” Nigam stated.
The markets gained more than 1 per cent in the previous session, thereby extending the rally into the second consecutive session, ahead of interest rate decision by RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee.
Global cues
The US indices ended with smart gains on Wednesday amid a fall in 10-year Treasury yield. Dow Jones gained 0.9 per cent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.5 per cent and Nasdaq surged 2.1 per cent. On Thursday, the markets will look for cues from inflation numbers, which analysts expect to hit a four-decade high at 7.3 per cent.
Major markets in Asia lacked direction in early trades this morning. Nikkei, Kospi and Taiwan were up – up to 0.3 per cent, while on the other hand, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite and Straits Times were down – up to 0.3 per cent.
Oil prices, also, rose on Wednesday after US inventories reported a decline of 5 mn barrels, indicating higher demand. Brent crude futures advanced 0.9 per cent to $91.55 a barrel, and WTI crude ended 0.3 per cent up at $89.66 a barrel.
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