Markets edge up ahead of US Fed meet

Ahead of the FED Chair Powell’s speech, the Indian indices oscillated around the flat trajectory and mixed global market sentiments further catalysed this scenario. Investors are exercising caution and awaiting Powell’s signals for more insights on the interest rate path, said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex and Nifty edged up in volatile trade on Friday following buying in blue-chip stocks such as ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel amid mixed global trends ahead of the US Fed chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole Symposium.

Rising for the fourth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 33.02 points or 0.04 per cent higher at 81,086.21. In early trade, the benchmark declined 169.93 points or 0.20 per cent to a low of 80,883.26. Later, it bounced back 178.3 points or 0.21 per cent to hit a high of 81,231.49, but gave up gains towards the end. The NSE Nifty edged up 11.65 points or 0.05 per cent to close at 24,823.15 registering gains for the seventh session in a row. However, market capitalisation (Mcap) of BSE-listed companies eased by Rs0.56 lakh crore to Rs4,59,96,548.98 (Rs459.96 lakh cr or $ 5.48 trn.

“Ahead of the FED chair Powell’s speech, the Indian indices oscillated around the flat trajectory and mixed global market sentiments further catalysed this scenario. Investors are exercising caution and awaiting Powell’s signals for more insights on the interest rate path,” Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 0.15 per cent, however the midcap index fell 0.66 per cent.

“Indian market struggled for direction in early trade on Friday as investors awaited cues from US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell’s speech at the ongoing Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. “Markets are looking for new clues on the timing and pace of possible interest rate cuts by the Fed this year,” Avdhut Bagkar, analyst (technical and derivatives) at StoxBox.

Among the indices, Services surged by 1.07 per cent, Auto by 0.93 per cent, Industrials by 0.26 per cent, capital goods by 0.23 per cent and Consumer Discretionary by 0.13 per cent. Realty, IT, Oil & Gas and Teck were among the laggards.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, Sun Pharmaceutical, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and JSW Steel were the gainers. Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, Titan, Infosys, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Bank were the laggards.