Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 31 : Indian markets opened flat on Diwali, with both indices struggling between bears and bulls. The Nifty index traded flat with a marginal dip at 24,326.75, down by 0.06 percent during the opening session, while the BSE Sensex index also dipped marginally to trade almost flat at 79,859.62 points, down 0.10 percent.
Experts noted that India needs measures on both fiscal and monetary fronts to boost growth.
"Happy Diwali and Shubh Samvat 2081. We are going into Samvat 2081 with a consensus that markets will be challenged and will mean revert, leading to an underpowered year coming up. Predictions are at best intelligent guesstimates so we will refrain from that. What is clear is that, some counter cyclical measures are needed from India, both on the fiscal and monetary front, to tackle the issue of "not as sharp growth in aggregate demand" said Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert.
He further added "The festival season is key to the annual consumption numbers and the combination of 35 lakh marriages and around Rs 4.5 lakh crores of private consumption expenditure is expected to provide some relief from a slowing growth trajectory".
In the sectoral indices, a mixed trend was seen on the National Stock Exchange, with Nifty Bank up marginally. However, Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Media, and Nifty Metal faced pressure, while Nifty IT declined by more than 1.5 percent.
Shares of Cipla surged by more than 8 percent, emerging as the top gainer in the Nifty 50. On the other hand, the IT sector faced selling pressure, with Infosys, TCS, and Tech Mahindra emerging as the top losers in the Nifty 50 list.
Selling by FIIs continued, with foreign investors selling stocks worth Rs 4,613.65 crore on Wednesday.
"Bulls need to hold the Tweezer bottom lows near 24,130 and then push the market above 24,500 to activate a bullish trigger. That could be a telling sign of a larger recovery given that the percentage of Nifty stocks trading above their respective 50-day moving averages fell to 14 per cent earlier this week - its lowest since the March 2023 lows - meaning that the market is oversold at least in the short-run" said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities.
In other Asian markets on Thursday, Japan's Nikkei 225 declined marginally by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.79 percent. South Korea's KOSPI index also declined by 0.75 percent.
In the U.S. markets on Wednesday, the S&P 500 saw a marginal decline of 0.33 percent, while the Nasdaq dropped by 0.56 percent.