Indian benchmarks opened slightly higher on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex trading at 77,276.67, down 196.27 points, or 0.25%, and the NSE Nifty 50 at 24,167.30, declining 40.45 points, or 0.17%, as of 12:36 pm. According to HDFC SKY, the modest gains came as Nvidia's strong earnings and softer oil prices met hotter US inflation and unresolved Hormuz talks, keeping gains capped. The previous session saw the BSE Sensex falling 183.15 points, or 0.24%, to 77,472.94 and the Nifty 50 declining 126.80 points, or 0.52%, to 24,207.75, as selling in IT and infrastructure stocks outweighed gains in metals and banks. The BSE MidCap index gained 0.17% and the BSE SmallCap index rose 0.56%, indicating that the broader market remained relatively resilient despite headline index weakness.
Nifty IT emerged as the biggest drag, falling 1.47% during the previous trading session as major technology stocks faced significant selling pressure. As reported by The Indian Awaaz, the sector's decline was largely attributed to concerns about higher visa costs following the proposed increase in H-1B visa application fees to approximately $103,265. Infosys declined 2.10%, Tech Mahindra fell 1.81%, Wipro dropped 1.52%, LTIMindtree declined 1.50%, HCL Technologies fell 1.31%, and Mphasis dropped 1.31%. TCS fell 1.14%, Persistent Systems declined 1.14%, and Coforge dropped 0.68%. However, the sector showed signs of recovery on Thursday with Nifty IT gaining 0.80% in early trade.
While IT stocks dragged the broader market lower, Bank Nifty demonstrated remarkable resilience, surging 0.47% to close at 57,784 on Thursday. According to Univest, Kotak Mahindra Bank surged 3.76%, Axis Bank gained 1.62%, and ICICI Bank rose 0.51%, making them the key drivers of the banking sector's outperformance. Nifty Private Bank gained 1.04%, while State Bank of India rose 0.38% and HDFC Bank remained flat at ₹727.20. Market analysts note that this Nifty-Bank Nifty divergence is the key input for stock market predictions for tomorrow, with Bank Nifty's strength providing potential support for a broader market recovery.
Nvidia beat estimates on both revenue and earnings, reporting $96.22 billion in quarterly revenue against a $92.17 billion estimate and adjusted earnings of $2.22 a share versus $2.10 expected, sending the stock up around four per cent in after hours trade on bullish next-year guidance. According to HDFC SKY, this strong performance provided support to IT stocks and helped offset some of the previous session's weakness. The positive sentiment was further supported by Brent crude easing further to near $87.24 a barrel and WTI holding below $81.67, as Iran and Oman continued negotiating a Hormuz accord without a final agreement, keeping a lid on geopolitical risk premium even with the deal unfinished.
According to Univest analysts, stock market predictions for tomorrow hinge on a rare and significant divergence where Nifty 50 closed at its exact day low of 24,207.75, down 0.52%, while Bank Nifty surged 0.47%. Ankit Jaiswal places Nifty 50 support at 24,150-24,190 and resistance at 24,280-24,313 for Thursday's session. Kunal Singla notes that if Bank Nifty holds above 57,650 on Thursday, it could provide the base for a Nifty recovery. The India VIX fell to 10.56, down 4.69% and touching an intraday low of 10.13, reflecting extremely calm options market conditions despite Wednesday's decline. Market participants will closely watch GIFT Nifty before 9:15 AM IST for gap direction and IT sector direction in the opening 30 minutes as key inputs for the day's performance.
