Nifty and Sensex gear up for a cautious start to the week

• India’s Nifty and Sensex look to open the week on a cautious note this Monday.
• Nifty and Sensex cheered global optimism last week, as soft US Retail Sales rekindled dovish Fed expectations.
• Nifty and Sensex traders brace for a relatively light India’s economic docket and Fed Minutes from the US.  

The Sensex 30 and Nifty 50, India’s key benchmark indices, are poised to open the week on a mixed note on Monday, having logged a weakly gain. The Indian indices look to consolidate the previous week’s upward trajectory, led by an upsurge in banks and auto sector stocks and weak US Retail Sales data-driven dovish Fed expectations.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 added 0.59% on the day to settle just below the all-time high of 22,126. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 gained 0.52% to close just shy of the 72,500.

Chinese markets reopened after a week-long Lunar New Year holiday while the US stock markets are closed on Monday, in observance of Presidents’ Day.

Stock market news

• SBI Life Insurance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, WIPRO, Adani Ports were the top gainers on the Nifty on Friday while losers included Apollo Hospitals, Brittania, Power Grid, SBI Bank, NTPC and Reliance Industries.
• Among the corporate news, Volkswagen and Mahindra & Mahindra signed pact for electric vehicle components.
• Paytm snapped its three-day decline to close at the 5% upper circuit.
• Zerodha Fund House launched Zerodha Gold ETF.
• Foreign investors in the last two days have sold equities worth Rs. 6,993 crore.
• On Thursday, Nifty and Sensex drew support from upbeat Indian data and impressive gains in the automobile and utility sector stocks.
• India’s trade data for January showed Thursday a shrinking Trade Deficit of $17.49 billion.
• US Retail Sales declined by 0.8% in January, the US Census Bureau reported on Thursday, worse than the market expectations for -0.1%.
• On Wednesday, the Indian WPI inflation dropped to 0.27% in January, as against a 0.73% increase in December. The data missed the market consensus of 0.53%.
• Attention now turns toward the Minutes of the Fed February meeting due on Wednesday, as the Indian economic calendar remains devoid of any top-tier data release.