Stock market today: Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, the Indian equity benchmark indices, rallied strongly in trade on Friday. While Nifty50 went above 25,000, BSE Sensex was up over 700 points. At 10:27 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 24,999.00, up 206 points or 0.83%. BSE Sensex was at 82,072.80, up 711 points or 0.87%.Market analysts anticipate continued consolidation, following international market trends and geopolitical situations.VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “Nifty which has been trading within the 24500-25000 range for about a month now is likely to remain within this range in the near-term. The upper side of the range will be broken only on news of deescalation of the Israel-Iran conflict or an abrupt end to the war. There is uncertainty on this. The lower side of the range is unlikely to break since big buying, particularly by domestic institutions, will emerge on dips. If the war lingers and crude rises beyond $85 the lower band of the range will be broken.“A distinct feature of the market trend visible in yesterday’s trade was the weakness in the broader market. While Nifty remained almost flat, SMIDs cracked with the smallcap index correcting sharply by 2%. This trend of weakness in the broader market is likely to continue since they are excessively valued and the ongoing risk-off can lead to further selling in this segment. Money may move from the over-valued SMIDs to the fairly valued, safe largecaps in financials, industrials, autos and real estate.“S&P 500 futures declined approximately 0.3% from Wednesday’s closing in early Asian trading, compared to 0.9% reduction on Thursday during US markets’ Juneteenth holiday closure. Japanese and Australian markets remained range-bound.Oil prices were set to increase for the third consecutive week despite Friday’s decline, as investors remained cautious amid ongoing warfare between Israel and Iran, with neither nation showing signs of retreat.Gold prices maintained stability on Friday amid heightened geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, whilst investors remained cautious about potential US intervention.Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 934 crore net on Thursday. Domestic institutional investors were net purchasers at Rs 606 crore.FIIs’ position in the futures market decreased from a net short of Rs 99,483 crore on Tuesday to Rs 99,183 crore on Wednesday.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market and other asset classes given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
