US inflation data cheers investors

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 515 points on Thursday to reclaim the 59,000-mark after a gap of four months, propelled by heavy buying in IT, banking and financial stocks amid sustained foreign fund inflows and positive Asian equities.

The 30-share BSE index ended 515.31 points or 0.88 per cent higher at 59,332.60 -- its highest closing since April 8, 2022. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty gained 124.25 points or 124.25 per cent to close at 17,659.

"Investors cheered the US inflation data for July, which came in below the estimate and raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may not be that aggressive in hiking interest rates in its next meeting. Hence, the optimism spread across Asian markets, including India where investors lapped up banking, IT and realty stocks. Traders have also been drawing comfort from the falling crude oil prices and FII inflows into the local shares in the last few sessions," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Siddhartha Khemka, head (retail research), Motilal Oswal Financial Services, adds that "commodity costs have corrected over the last few weeks, offering some respite from the record high inflation. India's inflation data is due on tomorrow (Friday) which would be eyed eagerly amidst better US inflation data.

The benefit of the recent moderation in commodity costs is likely to start accruing in H2 FY23E, which would boost corporate profitability. Thus the positive momentum in the market is likely to sustain going ahead, though bouts of volatility can't be ruled out given mixed global cues and increasing geopolitical tensions."