Mumbai: Indian benchmark indices traded higher on Friday, supported by a sharp overnight fall in crude oil prices and growing optimism over India and the European Union signing a long-awaited free trade agreement later this month, boosting investor sentiment across key sectors.
As of 9.25 am, Sensex added 239 points, or 0.29 per cent to reach 83,622, and Nifty advanced 50 points, or 0.2 per cent to 25,715.
Main broad cap indices performed in line with benchmark indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 adding 0.35 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 adding 0.11 per cent.
Among sectors, IT index was the major gainer, up 1.96 per cent, while the realty index edged up 1.28 per cent. Media, metal and pharma inched down 0.3 to 0.5 per cent each.
Analysts said the markets lack major triggers for a directional move. A US Supreme Court ruling that could have caused global market volatility didn’t happen, and since there’s no timeline, it’s unlikely to affect the market soon, they added.
The market is likely to respond to the major Q3 results in India. Better-than-expected results will trigger stock-specific action but won’t cause a broad based rally in the market.
Minor rallies are likely to be neutralised by FII selling, evident by their increasing short positions which indicate sustained FII selling likely to be the near-term trend, they added.
Immediate support lies at 25,500–25,550 zone, while resistance remained at 25,800–25,900 zone, market watchers said.
Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed during the morning session even as Asian chip stocks advanced causing a rally in several regional markets.
In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index eased 0.02 per cent, and Shenzhen gained 0.09 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei declined 0.44 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.15 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.13 per cent.
The US markets ended mostly in the green overnight as Nasdaq added 0.25 per cent. The S&P 500 advanced 0.26 per cent, and the Dow moved up 0.6 per cent.
On January 14, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold net equities worth Rs 4,781 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 5,217 crore.
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Photo: Nitin Lawate/IANS
—IANS
