Why Sensex Opened Higher Despite Weak Global Markets and FII Selling

Stock Market Today: Sensex and Nifty opened higher as lower crude oil prices and the RBI's improved growth outlook outweighed weak global cues and FII selling.

By Sakshi Singh

New Delhi, August 6: Indian stock markets opened in positive territory on Thursday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty gaining in early trade. Lower crude oil prices, gains in Reliance Industries and a positive growth outlook from the RBI helped offset weak global cues and foreign investor selling.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 201.43 points to 78,782.43 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty was up 16.35 points to 24,641.

Benchmark indices have been witnessing divergence since Monday after stock exchanges introduced a new auction mechanism for shares with futures and options (F&O) contracts.

The Closing Auction Session (CAS) in the equity cash segment became operational on Monday, introducing a new auction-based mechanism for determining the closing prices of eligible stocks. The move aims to make the price discovery process more transparent and robust.

From the Sensex pack, Titan, Reliance Industries, Eternal, Bharat Electronics, State Bank of India and Asian Paints were among the major gainers.

Stock Market News: Nifty Today Opens Higher as Lower Oil Prices and RBI Outlook Boost Sentiment

Power Grid, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 0.13 per cent lower at USD 79.35 per barrel.

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday maintained the status quo on its benchmark policy rate for the fourth consecutive meeting and retained its stance as "neutral", with Governor Sanjay Malhotra saying the central bank's next move on interest rates, as well as its policy stance, would be data-dependent.

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee unanimously voted to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent and opted to wait for greater clarity on whether higher energy costs arising from the West Asia crisis would feed into broader inflationary pressures.

The central bank marginally raised its GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.7 per cent while slightly lowering its inflation projection to 5 per cent.

"For domestic markets, the macroeconomic narrative has become incrementally more favourable over recent weeks. The Reserve Bank of India's decision to maintain its policy stance while upgrading its growth outlook and lowering its inflation forecast reinforces confidence in the resilience of the domestic economy," Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder and CEO of HST Wealth, a research analyst firm, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's KOSPI, Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded sharply lower, while China's Shanghai SSE Composite edged marginally higher.

US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 943.42 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

On Wednesday, the Sensex rose 152.05 points, or 0.19 per cent, to close at 78,581, while the Nifty gained 9.75 points, or 0.04 per cent, to settle at 24,624.65.

(With PTI Inputs)