Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 24 (ANI): Indian stock markets opened on a flat note on Friday as investors remained in a wait-and-watch mode ahead of a potential announcement on a US-India trade deal.
The Nifty 50 index opened at 25,935.10 points, up 43.70 points or 0.17 per cent, while the BSE Sensex opened at 84,667.23, rising 110.83 points or 0.13 per cent. Market experts noted that optimism around the proposed trade deal has buoyed investor sentiment, though no official confirmation has been made.
Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert, told ANI, “Indian markets saw a gap up and given the talk of a possible US-India trade deal, export-oriented sectors like textiles and IT saw a strong recovery. Even though PM Modi is not travelling to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit, and will hence not be having a meeting with US President Trump, the deal optimism is high. Domestic political compulsions mean that any deal will be announced post the Bihar elections. FIIs turned net sellers as some profit-taking set in by the afternoon.”
On the NSE, except for Nifty Midcap, which gained marginally by 0.02 per cent, other major indices, including Nifty 100, opened under pressure. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Metal rose 1.12 per cent and Nifty Realty gained slightly, while Nifty FMCG declined 1.27 per cent and Nifty Pharma fell 0.75 per cent.
Global developments also influenced sentiment. Recent US sanctions on two major Russian crude oil companies weighed on markets, while a sharp fall in gold and silver prices created a negative wealth effect. Experts noted that reduced Russian oil revenues could accelerate a potential Ukraine-Russia peace deal, potentially brokered by the US.
Key companies set to announce their Q2 FY26 results today include Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, SBI Life Insurance Company, ITC Hotels, Coforge, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, Brigade Hotel Ventures, eClerx Services, Jinkushal Industries, Latent View Analytics, NACL Industries, and SBI Cards.
Vaishali Parekh, Vice President – Technical Research at PL Capital, said, “Nifty index is almost near to retesting the previous peak zone of the 26,300 level and would have the important support positioned near the trend line zone at 25,400 level, which needs to be sustained to carry on with the positive trend further ahead.”
In other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 1.37 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.60 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.37 per cent, South Korea’s KOSPI rallied more than 2 per cent, while Taiwan’s market remained closed for a holiday. (ANI)
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