Mumbai: India's major stock indices barely gained any ground on Friday in choppy trade, ending a two-day losing streak as equities failed to keep up their current momentum amid worries that the market may have peaked too soon. Investors will now turn their attention to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, which is scheduled for mid-June, as they feel some comfort from the US Congress's passage of a Bill to raise the country's debt ceiling.
The Sensex increased 118.57 points or 0.19% from Thursday's finish to conclude at 62,547.11. To reach 18,534.10, the Nifty gained 46.35 points or 0.25%.
Both indices gained 0.2% for the week and climbed to their greatest levels in six months, building on a 1.5% increase the previous week. However, traders pulled their money off the table in anticipation of the US Federal Reserve's primary inflation indicator, the jobs report, which was released after market hours.
US job growth picked up in May, but the unemployment rate spiked to a seven-month high of 3.7%, according to Reuters, suggesting that labor market conditions were softening. This could give the Federal Reserve cover to postpone raising interest rates this month.
Head of alternative and quantitative research at Nuvama Institutional Equities Abhilash Pagaria stated, "We see limited upside in the frontline stocks and expect the midcap to outperform." "The benchmark indices may retrace and trade in a range even if they reach new highs."
For the second straight session, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold more at home than they bought. According to provisional stock exchange statistics, foreign funds sold shares in the cash segment for a net sum of Rs 658.88 crore while domestic institutions bought them for Rs 581.85 crore.
According to Pagaria, the Nifty encounters significant resistance near 18,700. According to Pagaria, even though the market is anticipated to have stock-specific movement as a result of MSCI rebalancing, a slew of recent strong economic data, and the next Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy meeting, sectors like the auto and pharmaceutical industries may perform well in the large caps.
In Asia, Hong Kong experienced a swift recovery after dipping into oversold territory, and the Japanese markets kept climbing to new highs dating back 32 years.
Markets across Europe increased by more than 1%. The three major indices on Wall Street were trading higher as a result of better-than-expected job statistics, driven by advances in the financial, industrial, consumer discretionary, technology, and healthcare sectors. The S&P 500 was up 1.25%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.84%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.74% at the time of publication.
The goods and services tax (GST) collections exceeded Rs 1.5 lakh crore in May, manufacturing activity reached a 31-month high, and vehicle and gasoline sales increased, according to data released on June 1. According to information released on May 31, the economy grew by a better-than-anticipated 6.1% in the March quarter, pushing growth for FY23 over expectations at 7.2%.
