Indian stock indices, though they only slightly maintained their gains from the previous session, were helped by robust US markets, a better investor mood, and a relative ease in Middle East tensions.
Tuesday at 9:30 am saw the Nifty at 22,678.15 points, up 34.75 points, a 0.15 per cent move, and the Sensex at 74,736.87 points, up just 65.59 points, or 0.088 per cent.
Nifty auto was the top mover, with all of the Nifty sectoral indices showing gains. Rewinding to a four-day winning run, Indian stock indices ended last week with a sharp decline, mostly as a result of investors' risk aversion in the face of weak global cues.
Volatility also returned in Indian stock markets after a smooth rally at the start of April, primarily driven by Foreign Portfolio Investor selling activity. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers in Indian stocks lately, as the ongoing geopolitical crisis in the Middle East likely pushed investors to take money off their portfolios.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who continued to remain net buyers for the third month until a few days ago in April, have cumulatively sold stocks worth Rs 8,677 crore, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.
"This bull market is remaining resilient despite headwinds, and is slowly gathering momentum despite high valuations. A significant feature of the ongoing bull run is that the FIIs are consistently being outsmarted by the DIIs and retail investors," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services. "Every time the US bond yields go up, particularly when the 10-year yield rises above 4.5 per cent, the FIIs have been selling.
The DII plus retail buying has been completely overwhelming the FII selling, forcing the FIIs to buy the same stocks they sold earlier at higher prices later," Vijayakumar said. This week will be dominated by corporate earnings releases and the highly anticipated Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for April 30 to May 1.
The US Federal Reserve, in its March meeting, voted to leave the key interest rate unchanged at 5.25–5.50 per cent, keeping the policy rate unchanged for the fifth straight time on the trot to manage high inflation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, interest rates were near zero.
