Nifty, Sensex continue upward movement as Asian markets decline

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 23 (ANI): Indian markets continued their upward movement on Friday, with both major indices opening with marginal gains.

The Nifty 50 index began the day with an increase of 0.14 per cent, or 33.60 points, reaching 24,845.10 points. Similarly, the BSE Sensex opened with a rise of 0.14 per cent, or 112.46 points, at 81,165.65 points.

“We expect a mildly positive day for the Indian markets, with positions being reduced in the second half. as Powell’s speech will be at night for Indian markets. FIIs turned net buyers on Thursday, only the 3rd day in August that this happened. Markets are waiting for the Jackson Hole speech event to pass before resuming their march upwards” said Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert.

In the Nifty 50 list on the NSE, 32 stocks saw gains at the opening, while 10 stocks declined, and 8 remained unchanged. However, sectoral indices on the NSE displayed a mixed performance.

The Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty IT, and Nifty Private Bank indices faced pressure, resulting in declines during the opening session. On the other hand, sectors such as Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Media, and Nifty Metal registered gains.

Among the top gainers at the opening on the NSE were Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Apollo Hospitals, Reliance, and Hindalco. Conversely, the top losers included LTI Mindtree, Infosys, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, and NTPC at the time of filing this report.

“In the short term, the market texture is still positive, but due to temporary overbought conditions, we may see range-bound activity in the near future. The key support zones are 24750-24700/80800-80650, and the key resistance zones are 24900-24950/81400-81600. However, a closing below 24600/80300 would be negative for the market in the short term” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research, at Kotak Securities.

Meanwhile, Asian markets exhibited a downward trend on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei index fell by 93 points or 0.25 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined by 0.84 per cent. Taiwan’s market, Taiwan Weighted, also dropped by 0.77 per cent. However, Indonesia’s markets bucked the trend, posting a gain of 0.74 per cent.

In the US markets on Thursday, the Nasdaq experienced a decline of 1.67 per cent, while the S&P Global fell by 0.89 per cent. Back home in India, the stock market had closed Thursday’s session with minor gains, albeit in a range-bound trading environment.

The NSE Nifty 50 had edged up by 0.17 per cent to close at 24,811.50, while the BSE Sensex had gained 0.18 per cent, ending the day at 81,053.19.