Domestic markets open stronger, snap two-day losing run

MUMBAI: The domestic markets on Monday opened with gains, snapping two-day losing run. Most of the key indices of global markets were trading in the green as the Indian equity markets opened on Monday.

Thirty-share BSE Sensex went up 265 points to 60,870.77 on Monday morning while NSE Nifty surged 79 points to 18,106.70 level. According to the Wall Street Journal, Federal Reserve officials are preparing to slow interest-rate increases for the second straight meeting and debate how much higher to raise them after gaining more confidence inflation will ease further this year.

The report said they could begin deliberating at the January 31-February 1 gathering how much more softening in labour demand, spending and inflation they would need to see before pausing rate rises this spring. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 308 points, Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 393.67 points while China's Shanghai moved up 24 points on Monday morning.

In European markets, FTSE went up 23 points, CAC 40 climbed 44 points, Deutsche rose 113 points while Refinitiv Europe was up 1 points. In American markets, Dow Jones was up by 330 points, Nasdaq went up 288, S&P 500 rose 73 points while Refinitiv United States was trading in the green.

On Friday, the Indian benchmark indices ended lower for the second straight session. BSE Sensex shed 236.66 points or 0.39 per cent to 60,621.77. The Nifty 50 index declined 80.20 points or 0.44 per cent to 18,027.65. India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves rose by USD whopping USD 10.417 billion to USD 572.0 billion in the week ending on January 13, Reserve Bank of India's Bulletin Weekly Statistical Supplement data showed. With this sharp jump, the reserves hit over a five-month high.

During the week that ended on January 6, the country's forex reserves were at USD 561.583 billion, earlier data showed. According to RBI's latest data, India's foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, rose by USD 9.078 billion to USD 505.519 billion. Notably, at the start of last year -- 2022, the overall forex reserves were at about USD 633 billion.

Much of the decline can be attributed to RBI's intervention and a rise in the cost of imported goods. In October 2021, the country's foreign exchange reserves reportedly touched an all-time high of about USD 645 billion. The forex reserves had been intermittently falling for months now, barring the latest jump, largely because of the RBI's intervention in the market to defend the depreciating rupee against a surging US dollar.