Indian Stock Indices Took Breather After Hitting Fresh Highs

New Delhi, Sep 13: Stock indices in India closed Friday's trading marginally in the red due to mild profit booking, hours after tasting lifetime highs.

Sensex closed the day at 82,890.94 points, down 71.77 points, or 0.087 per cent, while Nifty closed at 25,356.50 points, down 32.40 points, or 0.13 per cent. On the sectoral front, most of the indices interestingly were in the green today, barring FMCG; oil and gas; and healthcare, the NSE website showed.

"The markets saw lackluster trading on Friday, ending slightly lower as they took a breather following a strong surge. After a flat opening, the Nifty fluctuated within a narrow range throughout the session," said Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

Indian stock markets opened at a new high on Friday, with both indices continuing the bull run. The Nifty 50 index opened closer to its 52-week high, while the Sensex opened above the 83,000 mark for the first time. But largely the movement in the indices was in a narrow range.

Domestic stock indices had risen substantially recently, possibly due to inherent strength in domestic market fundamentals. Continued buying by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also somewhat supported the stock indices.

"The market took a breather and ended flat after the previous day's sharp uptick. Despite domestic CPI inflation being within RBI's target band, the increase in food prices may influence the central bank to remain prudent on rates," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

India's retail inflation remained below RBI's 4 per cent target for the second consecutive month. According to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Thursday, retail inflation or Consumer Price Index in August was at 3.65 per cent.

August retail inflation is the second lowest in the last five years.

Food prices continue to remain a pain point for the policymakers in India, who wish to bring retail inflation to 4 per cent on a sustainable basis. But yesterday's inflation data once again reaffirms that the inflation has aligned with the intended target.

Going ahead into next week, the global markets will closely US Fed's monetary policy outcomes, particularly the extent of the rate cut, if any.

The US Fed's next meeting takes place September 17-18, 2024. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently indicated that it was time for the US central bank to reduce interest rates as inflation rates aligned with its target.

Addressing the much-awaited Jackson Hole Symposium last month, Powell said that "the time has come for policy to adjust" but stopped short of hinting at the quantum of interest rate cut. (ANI)