Stock Market News on Budget Day 2024: GIFT Nifty Points to a Cautious Start

The Indian stock market rose on January 31, 2024, with Sensex up 648 points at 71788 while Nifty gained 196 points and was trading at 21718 level.

Around 1627 stocks advanced and 706 declined while 93 remained unchanged.

Among the sectors, barring the media space, all other sectors were trading in the green. Nifty Pharma was up over 2 percent while Bank Nifty and the auto index gained 1.5 percent each.

GIFT Nifty

GIFT Nifty indicates a cautious start for Indian indices.

Fed’s Powell sees lower rates on the horizon as inflation ebbs

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a sweeping endorsement of the US economy’s strength, said on Wednesday that interest rates had peaked and would move lower in coming months, with inflation continuing to fall and an expectation of sustained job and economic growth, according to Reuters.

Powell, speaking after the end of a two-day policy meeting, declined to declare victory in the US central bank’s two-year inflation fight, vouch that it had achieved a sought-after “soft landing” for the economy or promise that rate cuts would come as soon as the Fed’s March 19-20 meeting, as investors had hoped in the run-up to this week’s policy decision.

US Markets

US stocks tumbled on the last trading day in January after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady while dashing hopes for interest rate cut as soon as March. The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) left its key policy rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%, according to a Reuters report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 317.01 points, or 0.82% , to 38,150.30. The S&P 500 lost 79.32 points, or 1.61%, to 4,845.65. The Nasdaq Composite lost 345.88 points, or 2.23%, to 15,164.01.

Asian Markets

Asian shares faltered on Thursday after Wall Street took a late spill, while investors stuck to bets for sizable cuts in US interest rates this year even if the kick off might now be a little later than first hoped.

The choppy trading left Asian markets cautious and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.5% as the yen gained, while South Korea bounced 0.7%.

Results Today

Titan Company, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, AAVAS Financiers, Abbott India, Aditya Birla Capital, Bata India, City Union Bank, Deepak Fertilisers, eClerx Services, Indian Hotels Company, India Cements and Dr Lal PathLabs.

Also read: Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Karur Vysya Bank Top 2 Stocks Which Can Fetch Up to 17% Return

Stocks in the news

• Infosys: The IT major has signed a seven-year strategic collaboration with Musgrave, Ireland’s leading food retail, wholesale and foodservice company. As part of this collaboration, Infosys will help automate Musgrave’s IT operations by leveraging its industry-leading AI and Cloud offerings.
• Gujarat Gas: The firm has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL). Under the said MoU, HPCL will be providing liquid fuels, automotive lubricants, greases, and specialties at Gujarat Gas outlets. Gujarat Gas will be setting up a CNG mother facility at HPCL outlets.
• Glenmark Pharma: The pharma company joined hands with Pfizer to launch Abrocitinib in India. Abrocitinib is used for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.
• One97 Communications: The Reserve Bank of India has taken further action against Paytm Payments Bank, saying no further deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups will be allowed in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, NCMC cards, etc. after February 29, 2024, other than any interest, cashback, or refunds that may be credited anytime. The nodal accounts of One97 Communications and Paytm Payments Services are to be terminated at the earliest, in any case not later than February 29, 2024. On March 11, 2022, the RBI directed Paytm Payments Bank to immediately stop onboarding new customers.
• Cochin Shipyard: The company announced that it has bagged an order worth Rs 500 crore from a European client for delivery of a hybrid Service Operation Vessel (SOV).
• Deepak Nitrite: The company’s unit Deepak Chem Tech signed a pact worth Rs 9,000 crore with the Gujarat government. It plans to set up units to manufacture chemicals at Dahej, expected to commence operations in 2027.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,660.72 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 2,542.93 crore worth of stocks on January 31.

Stocks under F&O ban on NSE

The NSE has added SAIL to the F&O ban list for February 1.

Disclaimer: The content of this blog post is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be interpreted as investment or trading advice. The author does not assure the accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Any decisions or actions taken based on the content of this blog post are undertaken at your own risk.