Indian stocks gain for second straight day on global cues

New Delhi: Indian stocks extended their gains from the previous session and traded in the green on Friday, primarily tracking positive cues from global markets. At 9.50 am, Sensex traded at 59,965.01 points, up 276.79 points or 0.46 per cent, whereas Nifty traded at 17,882.95 points, up 84.20 points or 0.47 per cent. On Thursday, the two indices rose around 1 per cent each due to strong buying in banking and IT stocks. “European markets closed with modest gains amid a 75bps rate hike by ECB to curb the situation of rising inflation. US markets closed in green. Asian peers are also trading with firm gains,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities. Prior to Thursday, the indices fell for two sessions on the likelihood of aggressive rate hikes in the US as indicated by the Federal Reserve. “In India, the market momentum is so strong that the benchmark indices are moving towards previous record highs. Even though valuations are getting expensive investors should remain invested in this strong market,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “Strong foreign institutional investors buying and short covering can surprise the market on the upside. Domestic economy-facing stocks continue to be the favourites.” For fresh cues, Indian investors now await retail inflation data for July, which will be released next week. India’s retail inflation fell to 6.71 per cent in July, the lowest level in five months, helped by an easing in food and oil prices, as per the National Statistical Office (NSO) data. However, retail inflation has been over the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance band of 6 per cent for the seventh consecutive month in a row. Retail inflation was at 7.01 per cent in june

.