Stock markets trade higher in early session on sustained foreign fund inflows

MUMBAI: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading higher after volatile early session on Friday as sustained foreign fund inflows and relatively moderate crude oil prices instilled optimism in the equity market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 33 points to 79,343.06 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty was down 52.95 points to 24,477.40.

Later, both the benchmark indices gathered momentum, with the Sensex trading 443.87 points higher at 79,760.10, and the Nifty climbing 81 points to 24,612.85.

In the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra climbed over 4 per cent after the firm on Thursday reported a 25 per cent rise in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) for the second quarter ended September to Rs 4,587.88 crore, backed by strong revenue growth, particularly for the auto segment, despite headwinds emanating from the West Asia conflict-linked commodity price pressures.

Titan, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Bharti Airtel were also among the winners.

Asian Paints, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 2.35 per cent higher at USD 100.6 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 14,974.68 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were trading significantly lower.

The US equity markets ended sharply lower on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 5.52 per cent, S&P 500 dropped 4.36 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.44 per cent.

"The blood bath in the US markets will impact most other markets today, but India is likely to be the least impacted," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

The tech rout, particularly the sharp deceleration in AI trade will turn out to be beneficial for India, he said.

"It is important to note that the FIIs have bought equities for Rs 35,781 crore in the last five trading days. Despite selling and profit booking by DIIs the market is likely to remain resilient since FII buying will continue in the changed global market construct," Vijayakumar added.

On Thursday, the Sensex zoomed 2,008.61 points, or 2.60 per cent, to settle at 79,310.01. The Nifty surged 576 points, or 2.40 per cent, to end at 24,536.60.

In the past six consecutive sessions, the Sensex has surged 6,063.98 points, or 8.27 per cent, and the Nifty rallied 1,837.75 points, or 8 per cent.

"Global markets have come under significant selling pressure following a sharp overnight sell-off on Wall Street, triggered by a broad-based unwinding of AI-related trades and heavy losses in semiconductor stocks.

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.4 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite declined 4.36 per cent and 5.52 per cent, respectively, pushing the latter two benchmarks into correction territory. The weakness extended across Asian markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling more than 5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi losing over 6 per cent, underscoring the extent of the risk-off sentiment across global equities," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth-tech firm, said.