- India’s Nifty and Sensex keep rebound intact after opening Tuesday in the red.
- On Monday, Nifty hit an all-time high near 22,190, Sensex closed just below 73,000.
- Nifty and Sensex traders brace for a relatively light India’s economic docket and Fed Minutes from the US.
The Sensex 30 and Nifty 50, India’s key benchmark indices, are clinging to recovery gains after opening lower on Tuesday.
Indian indices consolidate the recent bullish momentum, as traders turn cautious before placing fresh bets ahead of the Minutes of the US Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy meetings.
At the time of writing, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 trades 0.15% higher on the day at 22,156.20 while the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 adds 0.27% to 72,905.06. The Nifty 50 hit a new all-time high of 22,186.65 on Monday but pulled back into the close.
The US stock markets will reopen on Tuesday after the Presidents’ Day holiday on Monday.
Stock market news
- India’s Nifty and Sensex are supported by an uptick in the banking and utility sector stocks but the recovery remains fragile amid a sell-off in the auto and technology stocks.
- Power Grid Corp, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Apollo Hospitals and NTPC are among the major gainers on the Nifty so far while losers include Coal India, HeroMoto Corp, Bajaj Auto, TCS and Eicher Motors.
- Among the corporate news, Coal India shares slide 5% after fall in e-auction premium.
- Shares of Whirlpool of India down after report of promoter off-loading 24% stake.
- Vibhor Steel Tubes to debut on bourses on February 20.
- On Monday, Bajaj Auto announced February 29 as the record date for a proposed buyback plan amounting to Rs 4,000 crore, at Rs 10,000 per share.
- Shares of Paisalo Digital rallied 15% to hit a record high of Rs 164 on Monday, surging 63% in the past month on promoter buying and strong December quarter (Q3FY24) earnings.
- Novartis India share price surges nearly 11% to hit a 52-week high as Novartis AG announces sale plans for the company.
- People’s Bank of China (PBoC) cut the five-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) by a record 25 bps from 4.20% to 3.95%. The PBOC rate cut failed to excite Asian traders.
- India’s trade data for January showed Thursday a shrinking Trade Deficit of $17.49 billion.
- US Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) data came in hotter-than-expected and helped push back the market’s expectations of a Fed rate cut from March to June. Markets are currently pricing a 77% chance of a cut in June, the CME Group’s Fed Watch Tool shows.
- Attention now turns toward the Minutes of the Fed January meeting and American tech major Nvidia Earnings report due on Wednesday, as the Indian economic calendar remains devoid of any top-tier data release until Thursday’s RBI Minutes.
Nifty 50 FAQs
The Nifty 50, or simply Nifty, is the most commonly followed stock index in India. It was launched in 1996 by the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). It plots the weighted average share price of 50 of the largest Indian corporations, offering investors comprehensive exposure to 13 sectors of the economy. Each corporation’s weighting is based on its “free-float capitalization”, or the value of all its shares readily available for trading.
The Nifty is a composite so its value is dependent on the performance of the companies that make up the index, as revealed in their quarterly and annual results. Another factor is government policies, such as when in 2016 the government decided to demonetize 500 and 1000 Rupee banknotes. This led to a temporary cash shortage which negatively impacted the Nifty. The level of interest rates set by the Reserve Bank of India is a further factor as it determines the cost of borrowing. Climate change, pandemics and natural disasters are also drivers.
The Nifty 50 was launched on April 22, 1996 at a base level of 1,000. Its highest recorded level to date is 22,097 achieved on January 15, 2024 (this is being written in Feb 2024). The index first closed above the 10,000 level on October 17, 2017. The Nifty recorded its biggest daily decline on March 23, 2020 during the Covid pandemic, when it fell 1,125 points or 12.37%. The Nifty’s biggest gain in a single day occurred on May 18, 2009, when it rose 651 points after the results of the Indian elections.
Major corporations in the Nifty 50 include HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen and Toubro, ITC Ltd, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd and Kotak Mahendra Bank.