Market Opens Flat; Cautious Ahead Of Fed Rate Cut

Indian stock markets opened marginally up on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Fed rate cut event this week. The Nifty 50 index opened at 25,406.65 points, gaining 50.15 points or 0.2 per cent, while the BSE Sensex surged 94.39 points at the opening to 82,985.33 or 0.11 per cent.

In the Nifty 50 list, 39 stocks opened with gains while 11 declined at the time of filing this report. Experts pointed out that the Fed rate cut declaration is the major event this Wednesday, and investors are now focused on whether the cut will be 50 basis points (bps) or 25 bps.

"The Fed rate cut is coming this Wednesday. The main debate is should the Fed go in with a 50 bps cut or stick to a 25 bps cut. Over the last three decades, the Fed has started with a 50 bps cut when the economy was in the throes of a recession. Present economic conditions do not warrant a 50 bps cut," said Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market expert.

He further said that India is seeing increasing FII inflows and a weaker US Dollar will increase these flows. He remains optimistic about the Indian markets, backed by a strong macro, global central bank action and domestic plus international flows both providing a fillip to Indian markets.

In the broad market indices on the national stock exchange, all major indices showed gains at opening. In the sectoral indices, except Nifty FMCG, all others opened with gains, while Nifty Realty emerged as the leader in gains with a surge of 0.97 per cent at the opening.

“Nifty is one of the best-performing stock indices in the world. Even though India’s economic fundamentals and corporate earnings are strong, the single most important factor driving the Indian market now is the sustained domestic liquidity flows into the market. The resilience of the Indian market despite elevated valuations has forced FIIs to turn buyers in the cash market, where they bought on all days last week,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Since the undertone of the market continues to be bullish, it makes sense to remain invested. Among sectors, IT and pharma are showing strength, added Vijaykumar. The Asian markets opened flat on Monday, with Taiwan's market down 0.04 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declining by 0.45 per cent. The markets of Japan and South Korea were closed for a holiday. (ANI)