On Thursday, Indian share markets open flat. The BSE Sensex opened down by 57 points, while the Nifty is trading lower by 6 points.
Asian share markets are trading on a mixed note today after South Korea became the first country to raise interest rates in the pandemic era. The Bank of Korea raised its policy rate for the first time in almost three years, by 25 basis points to 0.75%, to curb surging household debt.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened on a choppy note, tracking a weak trend in Asian equities and sustained foreign fund outflow. After opening on a negative note, the 30-share index was trading 46.78 points or 0.08 per cent higher at 55,990.99. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 16.80 points or 0.10 per cent to 16,651.45.
Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 1 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance and L&T. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, Maruti, Titan, and Axis Bank were among the laggards.
In the previous session, Sensex ended 14.77 points or 0.03 per cent lower at 55,944.21, while Nifty settled 10.05 points or 0.06 per cent higher at its new closing record of 16,634.65.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,071.83 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data. Domestic equities look to be muted as of now, said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.
“The government’s focus to improve credit growth through credit outreach programmes augur well for the domestic economy and corporate earnings.
“Additionally, minutes of the MPC meeting continue to show RBI’s commitment to ensure policy support to sustain economic recovery despite select members showing some apprehensions about high inflation and pitching for gradual normalization in ultra-loose monetary policy. These indicate a sharp economic recovery in the 2HFY22E,” he said. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.53 per cent to USD 70.90 per barrel.
