Indian stock indices in green at opening bell Monday

NEW DELHI: Indian stock indices started off Monday session in the green after a truncated trading week. Benchmark Sensex and Nifty were 0.6 per cent higher each at 71,107.46 (up 407 points) and Nifty 21,475.90 (up 123 points), respectively, at the opening bell. Domestic investors are now bracing for a busy week with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget proposals and other macro-economic guidance, due on Thursday, will be keenly tracked.

Besides, the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's first policy meeting of the year 2024, scheduled for Wednesday, will also be on investors' radar.

"Two important events are due this week: the interim Budget and the Fed meeting on rate decision. But these events are unlikely to impact the market in a big way. The Budget will be a vote on account without major announcements capable of impacting the market. Regarding the Fed decision, no rate cut is expected, but the commentary will be keenly watched," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services. On Tuesday, the stock markets witnessed a bloodbath, with the Sensex falling over 1,000 points due to a host of reasons, including high valuations, foreign portfolio investors lately pulling out funds from India, and a mild profit booking. Foreign portfolio investors have been aggressively selling Indian stocks, turning net sellers in the Indian equity market so far in January 2024, after making a beeline to accumulate domestic stocks during the past two months--November and December.

The data available from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed that the FPIs sold Indian stocks worth Rs 24,734 crore in January. In December, especially, they made a beeline to invest in Indian stock markets, with a cumulative accumulation of Rs 66,135 crore. "FPIs were sellers in autos and auto ancillary, media and entertainment and marginally in IT. They bought in oil and gas, power and selectively in financial services. The rising bond yields in the US is a matter of concern and this has triggered the recent bout of selling in the cash market," said Vijayakumar.