Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Ends Higher After Two-Day Fall; FPIs Stay Net Sellers

Overseas investors stay net sellers for three consecutive sessions on Tuesday.

Foreign portfolio investors sold stocks worth Rs 455.59 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

Domestic institutional investors continues as buyers and purchased stocks worth Rs 721.52 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have been net buyers of Rs 96,433 crore worth of Indian equities so far in 2023, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd., updated till the previous trading day.

The yield on the 10-year bond closed flat at 7.27% on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency ended flat at around 83.354, which was the lowest-ever close against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.

• It had closed at all time weakest level of 83.346 against the U.S. dollar on Monday.

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark stock indices advanced on Tuesday, after snapping two days of decline as heavyweights Reliance Industries Ltd., and HDFC Bank Ltd. led.

Intraday, the Nifty Midcap 150 and Smallcap 250 hit lifetime highs. Among sectoral indices, realty, metal and consumer durables advanced the most, while fast-moving consumer goods and public-sector banks faced pressure.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index closed up 276 points, or 0.42, at 65,930.77 while the NSE Nifty 50 was 89 points or 0.45% higher at 19,783.40.

The index is moving sideways as of now and would need a decisive breach on either side of 19,800 or 19,650 level for the confirmation of further directional move, said Vaishali Parekh, vice president - technical research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. "The support for the day is seen at 19,600 while the resistance is seen at 19,850," she added.

Asian stocks were steady on Tuesday, buoyed by extended gains in Wall Street and a $16 billion sale of 20-year Treasury notes that lured bond buyers.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei 225 indices ended lower after a volatile day of trade, whereas South Korea's Kospi, mainland and Australian shares closed higher.

On Monday, the S&P 500 had its strongest close since August, and the Nasdaq 100 hit a 22-month high. Both Nvidia Corp., which will report quarterly results Tuesday, and Microsoft Corp. climbed to fresh peaks amid a revival of the artificial-intelligence bid.

Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., and Titan Co. were positively adding to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, Coal India Ltd., ONGC Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., State Bank of India, and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. were negatively contributing to the change.

We remain cautiously optimistic on the market from a medium-term perspective, said Vinay Paharia, CIO, PGIM India Mutual Fund. "Our caution is because markets are trading at a premium to its current fair value. However, this fair value is likely to grow at a strong pace in the medium-term, hence we remain optimistic from a medium to long-term perspective."

The broader markets ended higher; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was up 0.14%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was 0.20% higher.

Twelve out of 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, while eight sectors declined. S&P BSE Consumer Durables anf S&P BSE Realty rose the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 2,029 stocks rose, 1,688 declined, while 137 remained unchanged on the BSE.

As the market remains rangbound, it is likely to wait till the State elections outcome is known, saysD r. V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"If the state election outcome indicates political stability after the general elections of 2024, that will act as the trigger for the rally. And, if such a rally happens, it is likely to be led by large-caps across the board in sectors like banking, I.T., automobiles, capital goods, telecom, real estate and construction-related segments," said he added.