Indian benchmark indices opened on a flat note on Friday, tracking weak cues from Asian markets and early pressure in IT and auto stocks. Analysts suggest the market is likely to remain in a consolidation phase in the near term due to the absence of strong positive triggers.
At 9:29 a.m., the Sensex was marginally up by 11.77 points at 81,644.79, while the Nifty gained 13.20 points to trade at 24,846.80.
The Nifty Bank index rose by 81.20 points (0.15%) to 55,627.25, and the Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 0.44% to 57,707.65. The Nifty Smallcap 100 also edged higher by 0.21% to 17,927.15.
Despite subdued trade in early hours, analysts noted a positive technical signal from Thursday’s session, where the Nifty staged a smart rebound towards the end. Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, said, “Yesterday’s recovery showed a bullish lower shadow and small real body close to the day’s high, suggesting potential upward momentum.” He identified 24,677 and 25,000 as immediate support and resistance levels, respectively.
In the Sensex pack, top losers included Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Titan, and Hindustan Unilever. On the gaining side were Adani Ports, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, and Sun Pharma.
Weakness persisted across Asian markets, with indices in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, China, and Japan trading in the red.
Meanwhile, US markets closed higher in the previous session. The Dow Jones added 117.03 points to settle at 42,215.73, the S&P 500 rose by 23.62 points to 5,912.17, and the Nasdaq gained 74.93 points to close at 19,175.87.
Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, highlighted a key reason for the market’s range-bound nature. “India’s macroeconomic fundamentals are strong and improving, but this is not yet being reflected in corporate earnings,” he said.
On the institutional front, FIIs were net buyers, purchasing equities worth ₹884.03 crore on May 29. DIIs were also strong buyers, investing ₹4,286.50 crore.
-IANS
