Opening bell: Sensex declines around 200 points in early trade, Nifty at 22,091

NEW DELHI: Equity benchmark indices opened on a negative note on Friday after recovering on Thursday. Sensex declined around 200 points to 72, 830 in early trade while Nifty was trading at 22,100.
Power Grid Corporations, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Motors were among the major gainers in early trade while Mahindra and Mahindra, Titan, Ultratech and Bajaj Finserv were trading red.
The stock market showed a positive rebound on Thursday with Sensex gaining 335 points to to 73,097.28 points and Nifty closing above the 22,100 mark after climbing 0.68%.
This recovery was primarily driven by buying in IT and capital goods sectors. 20 stocks out of 30 in Sensex ended in green while 10 settled in red. 37 stocks in Nifty registered gain and 13 were down.
Among the top gainers in the Sensex were HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, and Asian Paints, contributing to the market’s recovery. On the other hand, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, State Bank of India, and Tata Steel were among the major losers.
Indian bourses on Wednesday had witnessed a sharp decline, with Sensex dropping by 1.23% and the Nifty by 1.51%, falling below the 22,000 level. However, the market managed to recover partially on Thursday, thanks to institutional buying and neutralization of leverage-based square-off.
Vinod Nair from Geojit Financial Services mentioned that the Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) easing to 0.2% in February brought relief and could pave the way for future rate cuts.
The broader market indices, including BSE smallcap and midcap, also witnessed a significant uptrend, with analysts noting their outperformance compared to the main indices.
Additionally, Fitch Ratings raised India’s economic growth forecast to 7% for the next fiscal year based on strong domestic demand and sustained business and consumer confidence.
On the global front, Asian markets like Seoul and Tokyo closed higher, while Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. European markets were mostly in the green, and the US markets had a mixed closing. Brent crude oil prices rose to $84.67 per barrel, indicating a positive trend in the commodity markets.
In Wednesday’s trading, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,595.06 crore. The overall market sentiment improved on Thursday, with a higher number of advancing stocks compared to declining ones on the BSE.

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