Stock market today: Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, opened in red on Friday. While BSE Sensex was around the 81,500 level, Nifty50 was above 24,950. At 9:16 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 81,518.82, down 93 points or 0.11%. Nifty50 was at 24,964.65, down 34 points or 0.14%.
“Overall we expect the market to consolidate in a range with stock-specific action.The IT sector is likely to be in focus as it will set the pace for other companies,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal.
Technical analysis indicates that the Nifty has support at 24,950-25,000 and 24,750 levels, while immediate resistance is seen at 25,100, with the next resistance zone at 25,250-275 levels.
Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower on Thursday as investors assessed higher-than-expected inflation and unemployment claims data for insights into the U.S. economy and the future path of interest rates. Asian shares, however, rose on Friday, sidestepping the losses on Wall Street.
Oil prices eased on Friday after a rally the previous day, but they remained set for a second straight weekly gain. Investors weighed the impact of hurricane damage on U.S. demand against potential supply disruptions if Israel attacks Iranian oil sites.
The U.S. dollar fell from two-month highs hit overnight versus its major peers after signs of weakness in the labor market strengthened the case for quicker Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Eleven stocks are currently in the F&O ban period, including BirlaSoft, Bandhan Bank, Hindustan Copper, RBL Bank, Granules, Manappuram, PNB, GNFC, IDFC First Bank, SAIL, and Tata Chemicals.
FIIs turned net sellers on Thursday, offloading shares worth Rs 4,926 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,878 crore.
The net short position of FIIs increased from Rs 1.28 lakh crore on Wednesday to Rs 1.55 lakh crore on Thursday.