Sensex, Nifty rise ahead of inflation data; Hindalco gains after Q2 results

Benchmark stock market opened the trading session on a positive note as investors wait for the release of retail inflation data later in the day.

The S&P BSE Sensex was up 148.85 points to 79,645 at 10:26 am, while the NSE Nifty was up 46.75 points to 24,188.05.

The other broader market indices were trading in positive territory as volatility dipped during the session.

Nifty Realty jumped 2% and was the top gainer among sectoral indices. High-weightage sectors such as Nifty IT, Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services also gained.

Trent, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, and Tata Steel were the top five gainers on the Nifty50. On the other hand, the top losers were Britannia, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, BEL and Bajaj Auto.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “Two strong factors have been at play in this consolidating market. One, the relentless selling by FIIs has been favouring the bears and pulling the market down. Two, the sustained buying by DIIs has been supporting the market preventing a crash in the market.”

“How the market will trend in the coming days will depend on the relative strength of these two factors. In this context, it is important to note that the intensity of FII selling is coming down (yesterday FII selling was Rs 2026 crores) and the inflows into mutual funds is steadily increasing which will enable DIIs to continue buying,” he explained.

He also highlighted that monthly flows into equity mutual funds have touched an all-time high of Rs 41,887 crore in October, clocking a 22% month-on-month increase. “This can provide resilience to the market and fundamentally strong fairly valued stocks like the leading banking names will outperform.”