Nifty, Sensex open flat ahead of US Fed's Jackson Hole Symposium; IT stocks slip

Bajaj Auto, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Motors, Tata Consumer, and Reliance Industries were among the major gainers on the Nifty

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex opened the day on a muted note as investors entered the wait-and-watch mode ahead of US Fed Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium due Friday, August 23. The speech could signal if the Fed will cut interest rates in its September meeting.

At about 9:20 am,  the Sensex was down 48.04 points or 0.06 percent at 81,005.15, and the Nifty was down 5.20 points or 0.02 percent at 24,806.30. About 1646 shares advanced, 971 shares declined, and 130 shares unchanged.

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"All eyes will be on tomorrow’s US Fed Chair Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium. Investors would look for hints on interest rate cuts. Hopes are running high for a rate cut in the September meeting followed by more rate cuts in subsequent meets. The market thus is likely to consolidate in the near term. While sectorial rotation and stock-specific action will be at play," Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal, said. "Globally US Fed meeting minutes indicating several officials in favour of lowering rates & downward payroll revisions cheered the sentiments," he added.

Also read: NSE further tightens norms for SME listings amid ongoing frenzy

Mirroring the overall trends, the mid-small cap indexes also showcased a mixed trend after the two rose, albeit marginally. Even as market experts have repeatedly expressed concerns about valuations, the two indices have outpaced the Nifty's year-to-date gains comfortably.

"As investors look ahead, all eyes are on key economic indicators from the US, including unemployment claims, existing home sales, and PMI data. These will be crucial in gauging the Federal Reserve's next steps to provide further insights into the timing of potential rate cuts," Mandar Bhojane, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said.

Read more: Brokerages retain bullishness on Reliance Industries, highlight Jio’s growth potential

Reliance Industries was also in focus today after Reliance Jio launched its most affordable prepaid plan, causing brokerages to give the Jio parent a thumbs up. Additionally, with the June telecom data from TRAI rolling in, Bernstein and CLSA believe that RIL's key driver of growth will be Reliance Jio. RIL shares were trading at Rs 3,018, higher by almost one percent from the last close.

Among sectors, Nifty Auto was the best performer, rising almost one percent after gains in Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, and Maruti Suzuki uplifted the sentiment in the market. Nifty Energy and Infra followed next with both rising 0.2 percent each.

Nifty IT was the biggest laggard, falling 0.6 percent after stocks such as Infosys, TCS, and LTIMindtree slipped in the morning. Nifty Bank and Realty followed after the two fell prey to profit booking after yesterday's gain.

"After a flat opening, Nifty can find support at 24,700 followed by 24,650 and 24,550. On the higher side, 24,900 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,950 and 25,000," said Hardik Matalia, Research Analyst Choice Broking. "The charts of Bank Nifty indicate that it may get support at 50,700, followed by 50,500 and 50,300. If the index advances further, 51,100 would be the initial key resistance, followed by 51,300 and 51,400," he added.

Bajaj Auto, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Motors, Tata Consumer, and Reliance Industries were among the major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were ONGC, NTPC, Infosys, LTIMindtree and IndusInd Bank.

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