Did the Indian stock market close higher today amid Q1 earnings and trade deal discussions?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- The Indian stock market closed with marginal gains.
- Ongoing corporate earnings reports are influencing investor sentiment.
- The Sensex and Nifty faced resistance at key levels.
- The Nifty PSU Bank sector outperformed other sectors.
- The Indian Rupee showed volatility against the US dollar.
Mumbai, July 16 (NationPress) The Indian stock market concluded the trading day with slight gains on Wednesday after a day filled with fluctuations, as investors exercised caution amid ongoing corporate earnings reports and worries surrounding a potential trade deal between India and the US, which kept the market's momentum subdued.
The Sensex rebounded from earlier declines to finish at 82,634.48, reflecting an increase of 63.57 points or 0.08 percent. Meanwhile, the broader Nifty index also closed nearly unchanged at 25,212.05, gaining just 16.25 points or 0.06 percent.
“The Nifty is encountering resistance at the significant level of 25,260, which corresponds to the 38.20 percent Fibonacci retracement of the recent drop from 25,669, indicating a state of indecision among investors at elevated levels,” stated Rupak De from LKP Securities.
“According to the daily chart, the index has maintained its position above the 50-day moving average (50DMA), indicating a favorable short-term trend,” he added.
On the Sensex, among the 30 stocks, the primary losers included Eicher Motors, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Finance, which declined by as much as 1.6 percent.
Conversely, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Infosys, and Adani Ports were listed among the top gainers.
In the wider market, the NSE Midcap 100 index remained stable with a slight positive inclination, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 saw a minor increase of 0.03 percent.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank stood out as the leading performer, with a rise of 1.81 percent.
Stocks such as Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, SBI, Indian Bank, and Union Bank of India reported gains exceeding 1 percent each.
Other sectors, including IT, auto, banking, energy, FMCG, real estate, oil and gas, and consumer durables, also finished positively.
However, the financial services, metals, and pharmaceutical sectors closed lower.
Meanwhile, the India VIX, which gauges market volatility, decreased by 2.09 percent to settle at 11.24.
The Indian Rupee exhibited significant volatility, initially depreciating against a robust US dollar before recovering mid-session due to dollar supply.
This fluctuation follows a three-day consolidation period for the USD-INR pair, which ranged from 85.70 to 86.05.
“Market sentiment remains strongly positive for the dollar, fueled by expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve following US inflation data and ongoing uncertainties regarding India-US trade agreements,” commented Dilip Parmar from HDFC Securities.
“In the short term, we expect the spot USDINR to stabilize within the 85.50 to 86.30 range,” Parmar noted.