New Delhi [India], August 20 : Indian stock markets opened flat on Tuesday as continuous foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows kept indices in check, even as the government recently announced several consumption-boosting measures.
The Nifty 50 index opened at 24,965.80, slipping by 14.85 points or 0.06 per cent. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex started the day at 81,669.09, registering a modest gain of 24.70 points or 0.03 per cent.
Market experts noted that factors such as monetary and fiscal stimulus, good monsoons, benign inflation, and targeted consumption boosters should ideally have pushed Indian markets higher.
Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert, told"What has held back the markets has been a relatively higher valuation in an underwhelming earnings recovery scenario. As earnings rise, Indian markets will rise ahead of these. That could happen by the next quarter as the festive season boost meets the government boosters. At some point, Indian markets will take off in anticipation."
On the global front, Bagga said that the easing of tensions between India and China, along with Chinese assurances on supply of rare earths, fertilisers, and tunnel boring machines, as well as expectations of large FDI inflows, should have improved investor sentiment.
India is also making efforts to address the impact of punitive tariffs imposed by the US on key labour-intensive export sectors. In addition, the country is working to forge stronger economic partnerships at the geostrategic level. These measures will safeguard jobs and benefit India's trade outlook in the coming months.
Another factor that markets are closely watching is the movement of FPIs. Large short positions taken by FPIs have added pressure on the indices.
Once these reverse, Indian markets could see sharp short covering, potentially helping indices climb to all-time highs by the end of the year.
In the broader market, the Nifty 100 was down by 0.08 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 0.05 per cent. The Nifty Small Cap 100, however, gained 0.11 per cent in the opening session.
Among sectoral indices on NSE, mixed trends were seen. Nifty Auto rose 0.17 per cent, while Nifty FMCG declined by 0.17 per cent. Nifty Pharma was down 0.20 per cent, Nifty Realty slipped 0.14 per cent, and Nifty Oil & Gas fell 0.15 per cent.
Vikram Kasat, Head - Advisory at PL Capital, said, "Nifty continued its bullish momentum. On the hourly chart, there was a gap zone between 24,993-25,046 levels which will be the immediate resistance. Clearing this can push the Nifty higher towards 25,250, which is a make-or-break zone from a medium-term perspective. The 24,852-24,673 range will be the support zone."
In the Asian markets, trading sentiment was largely weak on Tuesday morning. Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined by 1.87 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.77 per cent, Taiwan's weighted index slipped by more than 2 per cent, while South Korea's KOSPI fell by 1.98 per cent at the time of filing this report.
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