On the 30-share Sensex, Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Eternal and Titan Company were the top drags, down 2-4%. Gains at ICICI Bank, NTPC, Axis Bank, Power Grid and Tata Steel were marginal and rose to one per cent.Expert views
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the latest US jobs figures, which show the addition of 1,30,000 jobs and a decline in unemployment to 4.3%, indicate that the Federal Reserve may refrain from rate cuts in the near term. In India too, the cycle of rate cuts appears to be largely over, given steady growth and inflation expected to gradually return to the RBI’s long-term target by the end of FY27.
He added that market support is likely to come mainly from earnings growth, with sectors such as automotive, jewellery, hotels, select capital goods, telecoms and financials showing strong performance and having the potential to maintain momentum. However, it may take longer for tech stocks, already under pressure due to the anthropology-induced disruption, to recover. The recent sharp decline in ADRs of leading Indian IT companies in the US signals continued weakness in the sector, and a rotation of funds from IT to better-performing segments could support stocks in stronger profit-driven sectors.
FII/DII tracker
Foreign portfolio investors or FPIs bought net shares worth Rs 944 crore on Wednesday, February 11. DIIs, meanwhile, were net sellers of Rs 125.36 crore, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.
Global markets
US markets ended marginally lower after a choppy session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 66 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell about 0.2% and the S&P 500 closed just below the flatline. Stocks initially rose on a strong jobs report but later pared gains.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly breached the 58,000 mark for the first time in history, continuing its post-election rally on optimism around domestic politics and economic reforms, before trading gains eased marginally higher to 57,663. The broader Topix index rose 0.68%. Other Asian markets showed resilience despite weaker signals from Wall Street. South Korea’s Kospi rose as much as 2.1% to a record high of 5,466.9 before settling about 1.82% higher, while the Kosdaq was largely flat. Singapore’s benchmark index breached the 5,000 level for the first time.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.42% in early trading. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.23%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.12%.
Rough impact
Oil prices rose slightly on Thursday morning as investors turned cautious over escalating tensions between the US and Iran, raising concerns about possible supply disruptions.
Brent crude futures rose 34 cents, or 0.49%, to $69.74 a barrel by 0126 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 37 cents, or 0.57%, to $65.00 a barrel.
Rupee vs dollar
The Indian rupee opened 0.27% higher at 90.4550 per US dollar on Thursday, compared to the previous close of 90.70.
(With input from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions expressed by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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