The equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened higher on Friday, tracking gains in IT, realty and metal shares, as investors looked ahead to a likely interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on September 17.
At around 10:30 a.m., Sensex rose 225.12 points or 0.28 percent to 81,773.85, while the broader Nifty climbed to 25,072.10, up 66.60 points or 0.27 percent.
Barring FMCG and PSU bank indices, all major sectoral indices were trading in the green. Realty, IT and metal shares led the gains. The Nifty Smallcap100 and Midcap100 advanced up to 0.2 percent.
Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "A 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed is the near consensus now, but experts differ on the number of rate cuts after the September cut. Rising inflation in the US, which has come at 2.9 percent year-on-year in August, is likely to get worse from the tariff pass-through which has started happening."
Among Nifty50 gainers, Infosys, Eicher Motors, Tata Motors, Hindalco Industries and Maruti Suzuki India advanced up to 2 percent. Market breadth was positive with about 1,800 shares rising, 1,066 declining and 168 remaining unchanged.
The IT index gained nearly 1 percent, supported by a 2 percent rise in Infosys after the company approved its largest-ever share buyback worth Rs 1,800 crore. The metal index rose 0.78 per cent, while realty was up 0.4 percent.
Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "A bit of resistance on test of 25,012 and the positive close are both in line with our yesterday’s view. Towards this end, we will continue to pursue upsides, with downside marker placed near 24,930. Upside objective remains at 25,400, but approach of 25,100 is likely to attract rejection trades. Inability to push beyond the same, or a direct fall below 24,700 could delay the maturity of upsides."
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,472.37 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 4,045.54 crore, according to exchange data.
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