First Trade: Indices snap 6-day losing streak; Sensex adds 194 pts, Nifty at 23,108

Indian equities tracking positive Asian markets and a moderate January CPI print opened higher in Thursday's session. At the open, the 30-share BSE Sensex traded higher by 0.26 per cent or 194.5 points at 76,365.6, while the NSE Nifty50 traded with gains of 0.27 per cent or 62.3 points at 23,107.55. 

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "A positive domestic trigger is the better-than-expected decline in CPI inflation in January to 4.31% from 5.22 % in December 2024. The decline in inflation trajectory justifies the MPC’s rate cut this month and creates a favourable condition for another 25 bp rate cut in April. This augurs well for the stock market in general and rate-sensitives in particular."

From the market perspective, the elephant in the room continues to be the sustained FII selling which is showing no signs of abating, he added.

Meanwhile, the broader markets also outperformed the headline indices, with Nifty Midcap 100 index up as much as 0.6 per cent in early trade.

Sectorally, pharma emerged as the top sectoral gainer, followed by metal, financial services, banks and oil & gas. On the contrary, IT, FMCG, consumer durables and realty traded in the red.

From within the Nifty50 pack, top gainers included stocks like Cipla, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv and JSW Steel, while top laggards included stocks such as Tech Mahindra, Shriram Finance, Hindalco, Titan and Tata Consumer Products.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities noted that the trading mood at Dalal Street is tense as stocks look riskier, driven by persistent FII selling, crossing Rs 1-lakh crore in CY 2025, alongside concerns over US inflation boosting Federal Reserve rate hike bets. Fed Chair Powell’s cautious stance and President Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports add to the anxiety. Nifty has fallen 2.54% this year, still down 12.5% from its all-time high in September 2024. 

Technicals

Technically, strength is only confirmed above 24,048 (200 DMA), with key support at 22,787, said Tapse.

Asian markets

Asian markets traded higher in Thursday's session amid artificial intelligence (AI)-led rally in China. Alongside, dealmaking activity in the technology sector in Japan also aided gains. The key MSCI Asia ex Japan index was last up 0.56 per cent.