Stock Market Today: Nifty and Sensex settle Friday slightly in the red

India’s Nifty and Sensex settled on a subdued note on Friday, clinching weekly gains.
On Thursday, Nifty and Sensex rebounded firmly in tandem with the IT and auto sector stocks.
India’s and US PMIs came in mixed, RBI Minutes read hawkish, dismissing premature policy pivot.

The Sensex 30 and Nifty 50, India’s key benchmark indices, saw a bull-bear tug-of-war on Friday, eventually finishing marginally in the red. However, the Indian indices managed to book a weekly gain. The mixed trading in the Asian and European stock markets kept the upside in the Indian indices capped.

Nifty and Sensex traders weighed mixed Indian and US preliminary business PMI data and a hawkish Minutes of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) February meeting. However, the advance in the financial and pharma stocks offset the drag on the stocks in public sector undertakings (PSU), saving the day for the Indian stock market.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 ended 0.02% lower on the day at 22,212.70 and 73,142.80 respectively.

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On Friday, top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance, LTMindtree, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life Insurance and Dr Reddys. Meanwhile, the top losers were Maruti, BPCL, ONGC, Asian Paints and HCL Tech.
Data published by HSBC Bank showed on Thursday that India’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ (PMI) Index dropped from 56.9 in January to 56.7 in February. Meanwhile, the Services PMI rose to 62.0 in the same period vs. 61.8 previous. The Composite PMI stood at 61.5, as against the previous reading of 61.2.
In the RBI Minutes, Governor Shaktikanta Das stated that ‘’at this juncture, monetary policy must remain vigilant and not assume that our job on the inflation front is over. We must remain committed to successfully navigating the ‘last mile’ of disinflation which can be sticky.”
S&P Global Manufacturing PMI improved to 51.5 from 50.7 in February, while S&P Global Services PMI edged lower to 51.3 from 52.5.
Speeches from Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers continue to push back against expectations of early interest rate cuts.
Jefferies expects the Indian stock market to hit $10 trillion by 2030.
Among the corporate news, Shares of Vodafone Idea advanced nearly 9%.
Bharti Airtel introduced in-flight roaming plans for customers that will allow them to stay connected while on board a flight.
SpiceJet raised ₹316 crore, bringing the total funds raised to ₹1,060.
The US stock markets rallied hard on Thursday, riding the AI optimism wave. US stock futures are trading 0.05% higher so far, at the press time.
Nvidia released Q4 earnings after the close on Wednesday. Nvidia posted $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) vs. $4.64 expected while revenue stood at $22.10 billion vs. $20.62 billion expected. The AI pioneer said that it expected $24.0 billion in sales in the current quarter.
The Fed Minutes stated on Wednesday, “most participants noted the risks of moving too quickly to ease the stance of policy and emphasized the importance of carefully assessing incoming data in judging whether inflation is moving down sustainably to 2 percent.”
Markets are currently pricing in just about a 30% chance that the Fed could begin easing rates in May, much lower than an over 80% chance a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. For the June meeting, the probability for a rate cut now stands at 70%, down from 77% seen a day ago.
People’s Bank of China (PBoC) cut the five-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) by a record 25 bps from 4.20% to 3.95%. The PBOC rate cut failed to excite traders on Tuesday.
All eyes now remain on the Fedspeak later on Friday.

Nifty 50 FAQs

What is the Nifty 50?

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.

What factors drive the Nifty 50?

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.

What are the key milestones for the Nifty 50?

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.

What are some of the major companies in the Nifty 50?

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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