Indian Stock Market Kicks Off the New Year with a Stagnant Start
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Mumbai, Jan 1 (NationPress) The domestic benchmark indices commenced the New Year on a stagnant note on Wednesday, witnessing selling pressure in the auto, PSU bank, financial service, pharma, and metal sectors on Nifty.
At approximately 9:35 am, the Sensex was recorded at 78,054.12, reflecting a decrease of 84.89 points or 0.11 percent, while the Nifty was at 23,617.55, down 27.25 points or 0.12 percent.
The overall market sentiment remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,538 stocks were trading higher, whereas 621 stocks were trading lower.
Market analysts noted that the New Year started on a subdued note for the Indian equity market.
“The short-term outlook appears weak, influenced by sluggish GDP and earnings growth,” they mentioned.
Nifty Bank fell by 46.65 points or 0.09 percent to settle at 50,813.55. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 57,270.40, having gained 70.95 points or 0.12 percent. Meanwhile, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index stood at 18,831.55 after climbing 62.35 points or 0.33 percent.
On the sectoral front, there was buying interest in IT, FMCG, Media, and Energy sectors on Nifty.
Within the Sensex constituents, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, SBI, Nestle India, Tata Motors, M&M, and Maruti Suzuki were among the leading losers. Conversely, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, and UltraTech Cement featured among the top gainers.
The Dow Jones experienced a slight decline of 0.07 percent, finishing at 42,544.22. The S&P 500 fell by 0.43 percent, closing at 5,881.60, while the Nasdaq dipped 0.90 percent, ending at 19,310.79 during the previous trading session.
Within the Asian markets, Jakarta and Hong Kong were trading positively, while China, Bangkok, Seoul, and Japan were experiencing losses.
The challenges arising from a strong dollar (with the dollar index at 108.5 percent) and elevated U.S. bond yields are likely to influence the market, resulting in more FII selling, at least in the early days of 2025.
“Despite FII selling being offset by DII buying, the sentiment in the near term seems to favor FIIs due to ongoing elevated valuations,” experts commented.
Investors are advised to remain vigilant and monitor potentially market-moving macro data, as per expert recommendations.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) divested equities worth Rs 4,645.22 crore on December 31, while domestic institutional investors acquired equities worth Rs 4,546.73 crore on the same day.
