Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 12 : Indian stock markets opened flat as consolidation continues; however, with the expiry date today, the markets may face some volatility.
The Nifty 50 index opened at 24,604.45 points with a dip of 37.35 points or 0.15 per cent, while the BSE Sensex index was down by 49 points or 0.06 per cent, opening at 81,476.76 points.
Experts highlighted that due to expiry in F&O segment today, the Indian markets may face some volatility, but the consolidation continues. With US CPI inflation coming as per estimates, the Fed rate cut chances are almost fixed.
Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market Expert stated that "The Indian markets are consolidating in a tight range. Expect some volatility on the back of the expiry. With the Fed rate cut more or less a done deal, the next catalysts for Indian markets will be the inflation data today which is expected to show a drop in the CPI index month on month. Consolidation and then a year end rise remain our thesis".
He also highlighted that the US central bank in Focus after US CPI came in as per estimates, boosting the US markets and raising the probability of a Fed rate cut to 98 per cent plus.
In the Nifty 50 list, 23 stocks gained while 27 declined at the time of filing this report. The top openers of Nifty 50 include Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, TCS, and Wipro, while the top losers include Apollo Hospital, SBI Life, BPCL, Trent, and Titan.
In the sectoral indices, Nifty Bank, Nifty IT, Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty Healthcare indices gained, while other indices declined.
"Indecision on the Nifty continues to prevail as resistance at 24700 has held strong. The market has formed a short-term "pennant" with the highs falling and the lows rising, which means the potential for an upside breakout that targets the 24800 - 25000 hurdle zone remains high. Support at 24500 should hold for this view to pan out" said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities.
Foreign investors sold equities worth Rs 1,012 crore on Wednesday, while DIIs bought equities worth Rs 2,000 crore.
Other Asian markets also rallied, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index surging more than 1.28 per cent, Taiwan's Weighted Index up by 0.93 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gaining 0.68 per cent, and South Korea's market continuing to recover after the recent political instability, gaining 0.35 per cent.
Brent Crude was trading at USD 73.66 at the time of filing this report, with a marginal gain.