- India’s Nifty and Sensex open sharply higher on Friday, tracking positive global stocks.
- Nifty and Sensex settled slightly higher on Thursday after losing over 1.0% a day before.
- US Core PCE inflation came in line with estimates, India’s GDP blew out with 8.4% YoY in Q3.
The Sensex 30 and Nifty 50, India’s key benchmark indices, opened with strong gains on Friday, as traders cheered outstanding India’s growth numbers.
Both Indian indices also took the positive lead from Wall Street and Asian stock markets.
At the time of writing, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 is trading 0.65% higher at 22,125.65 and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 is up 0.57% at 72,910.64.
Stock market news
- Early gainers on Nifty this Friday are BPCL, ONGC, Britannia, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Hindalco. Meanwhile, the main losers were Apollo Hospitals, Sun Pharma, Infosys, HCL Tech and Britannia.
- Shriram Finance will replace UPL in the Nifty 50 index from March 28.
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in India declined 13% to USD 32.03 billion in April-December 2023, according to the latest government data.
- Brightcom Group tanked 7% after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) refused to lift restrictions on promoter.
- Reliance, Viacom 18 and Walt Disney announced a binding agreement to merge their business on Wednesday.
- India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 8.4% on an annual basis in the third quarter (October-December), as against 7.6% in the previous quarter, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed Thursday.
- The US stock markets closed higher on Thursday after the key US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index increased 0.4% for the month and 2.8% from a year ago, as expected.
- Markets are currently pricing in just about a 20% chance that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) could begin easing rates in May, much lower than an over 90% chance a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. For the June meeting, the probability for a rate cut now stands at about 62%, down from 70% seen a week ago.
- Attention now turns toward the US ISM Manufacturing PMI for fresh trading incentives.
- A special stock market live trading session will be conducted by NSE and BSE on Saturday, March 2.
Nifty 50 FAQs
The Nifty 50, or simply Nifty, is the most commonly followed stock index in India. It was launched in 1996 by the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). It plots the weighted average share price of 50 of the largest Indian corporations, offering investors comprehensive exposure to 13 sectors of the economy. Each corporation’s weighting is based on its “free-float capitalization”, or the value of all its shares readily available for trading.
The Nifty is a composite so its value is dependent on the performance of the companies that make up the index, as revealed in their quarterly and annual results. Another factor is government policies, such as when in 2016 the government decided to demonetize 500 and 1000 Rupee banknotes. This led to a temporary cash shortage which negatively impacted the Nifty. The level of interest rates set by the Reserve Bank of India is a further factor as it determines the cost of borrowing. Climate change, pandemics and natural disasters are also drivers.
The Nifty 50 was launched on April 22, 1996 at a base level of 1,000. Its highest recorded level to date is 22,097 achieved on January 15, 2024 (this is being written in Feb 2024). The index first closed above the 10,000 level on October 17, 2017. The Nifty recorded its biggest daily decline on March 23, 2020 during the Covid pandemic, when it fell 1,125 points or 12.37%. The Nifty’s biggest gain in a single day occurred on May 18, 2009, when it rose 651 points after the results of the Indian elections.
Major corporations in the Nifty 50 include HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen and Toubro, ITC Ltd, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd and Kotak Mahendra Bank.
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