India’s benchmark equity indices opened in positive territory on Thursday, with Nifty50 trading above the 24,600 mark and the BSE Sensex hovering close to 80,600. At 9:33 AM, Nifty50 was at 24,619.65, up slightly, while Sensex stood at 80,589.58, a gain of 50 points or 0.062%.

Market Outlook
Analysts expect the market to remain range-bound in the near term, with a focus on domestic themes amid caution over US tariffs and the upcoming Trump-Putin peace talks on Friday.

Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the market is currently in a “wait-and-watch” mode, tracking signals from global political developments and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address. “The market is oversold and short positions are high. Any positive news triggering short covering could spark a rally,” he noted.

He added that fundamentally strong banking stocks have slipped in the past month, while mid and small-cap stocks with higher valuations have remained resilient. “This is a short-term liquidity-driven aberration. Long-term investors can consider shifting from overvalued mid and small-caps to high-quality large-caps,” he said.

Global and Sector Trends
Overnight, US markets extended their rally on expectations of lower interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to a record high, the Dow Jones gained 463 points (1%), and the Nasdaq added 0.1% to a new peak.

Asian markets opened mixed on Thursday after three straight days of gains driven by rate cut bets. Oil prices edged higher, recovering from the previous session’s dip, as the upcoming US-Russia summit added to market risk sentiment.

On the domestic front, foreign portfolio investors sold equities worth ₹3,644 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors were net buyers, purchasing shares worth ₹5,624 crore.

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