Indian benchmark equity indices Nifty and Sensex ended flat in a highly volatile session on Friday, with global markets advancing after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish comments on interest rates. Powell’s remarks at the economic symposium in Jackson Hole, U.S., signaled an imminent policy easing, boosting market sentiment worldwide.
The NSE Nifty 50 index closed up 0.05% at 24,823, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.04% to 81,086. Analysts believe that Powell’s comments could benefit Indian benchmarks, potentially driving a further rally in the market.
Viram Shah, CEO of Vested Finance, stated, „Equity markets generally benefit from rate cuts as lower interest rates will spur spending and give a boost to the economy. The U.S. market has already bounced higher, and others may follow suit.“ Osho Krishan of Angel One noted, „The dominance of bullish investors was apparent throughout, with their strong advance-decline ratio helping the Nifty index to close the bearish gap on the weekly time frame.“
In the U.S. market, all three major stock indexes rallied following Powell’s remarks, with megacap growth stocks leading the gains. The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all posted significant gains, reflecting investor optimism about potential rate cuts in September.
European shares also saw broad-based gains, with the STOXX 600 index rising 0.5% to its highest level in over three weeks. Rate-sensitive sectors like real estate and utilities performed well, indicating positive market sentiment following Powell’s comments.
Technical indicators suggest a positive outlook for the Nifty, with the index forming higher highs and higher lows. Analysts anticipate further upside towards 25,000-25,100 levels in the near term, with immediate support at 24,650. Stocks like DOMS Industries, RailTel Corp, and Apar Industries showed bullish momentum, while counters like Dr Lal PathLabs and HDFC Bank signaled weakness ahead.
In terms of trading activity, CDSL, Zomato, and Nykaa were among the most active stocks in value terms, while Vodafone Idea, Nykaa, and YES Bank were the most traded stocks in volume terms. Stocks like Minda Corporation and Phillips Carbon witnessed strong buying interest, while no major shares hit their 52-week low on Friday.
Overall, market breadth favored bulls, with 2,018 stocks ending in the green and 1,939 settling in the red. The sentiment meter leans towards bullish sentiment, reflecting positive market dynamics following Powell’s dovish comments on interest rates. Investors are closely watching for further developments in the global economy and central bank policies to guide their investment decisions in the coming days.