Indian stock markets displayed modest gains by mid-day on Monday, building on early momentum driven by positive global cues and hopes for U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts. As of 12:50 PM, the Sensex stood at 80,465.67, up 0.04%, while the Nifty 50 rose 0.15% to 24,578.50.
The day has seen broad-based gains so far, with 2,689 stocks advancing compared to 1,238 declines. Notably, 268 stocks have hit 52-week highs, while only 33 have touched 52-week lows.
Top gainers on the BSE include Morepen Laboratories Ltd. (15.23%), Caplin Point Laboratories Ltd. (12.84%), Gravita India Ltd. (11.29%), Dynamatic Technologies Ltd. (10.60%), and Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. (10.43%).
Conversely, major losers are V-Guard Industries Ltd. (-6.50%), Suprajit Engineering Ltd. (-5.46%), Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (-4.62%), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (-4.35%), and Electronics Mart India Ltd (-3.33%).
In the morning, the NSE saw gains in BPCL (2.80%), Shriram Finance (2.57%), ONGC (2.08%), NTPC (1.88%), and LTIMindtree (1.37%). Losses were observed in M&M (-1.35%), HDFC Life (-1.10%), Grasim (-1.02%), Nestle India (-0.79%), and Tata Motors (-0.68%).
Market sentiment is being influenced by several factors, including the U.S. Federal Reserve’s potential rate cuts, falling oil prices, strong corporate earnings, and robust retail participation.
The government’s reduction of the windfall tax on crude oil exports is also supporting oil marketing stocks.
Investors are closely watching upcoming events, particularly the release of U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium later this week.
In the commodities market, gold prices have surged to an all-time high above $2,500 per ounce, while Brent crude oil futures fell 2% to $79 per barrel on Friday.
The positive market performance comes amid mixed global cues, with U.S. indices seeing their best week of the year last week, while Asian markets showed varied results on Monday.
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