Stock market today: Auto, metal stocks push Sensex, Nifty 50 higher
Gift Nifty futures were trading 0.23% higher at 24,882.50 points as at 8:42 am, indicating that Nifty 50 will open higher today.
India's auto and metal companies pushed the stock market higher today, on demand optimism and China's steel reforms, while hopes of a interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve boosted sentiment.
The NSE Nifty 50 gained 0.28% to 24,809.75 and the BSE Sensex added 0.26% to 80,922.34 as of 10:00 a.m. IST.
While equity markets remained open, the currency and debt markets are closed today on account of a local holiday. They will reopen on Tuesday. In light of the holiday, settlement for today's trades will occur on Wednesday, not Tuesday, according to exchange circulars. Trades that are made today will be settled in two days instead of the usual timeline. Settlement will revert to the usual cycle after Monday.
“Investors should exercise caution regarding any corporate action due tomorrow,” a regulatory source told Reuters.
Thirteen of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.
The metals index advanced 1% after Morgan Stanley turned constructive on Indian steel makers, citing demand uptick, benefits due to China's steel supply reforms and a weakening U.S. dollar.
The brokerage upgraded JSW Steel and Tata Steel to "overweight" from "equal weight" and SAIL to "equal weight" from "underweight".
All the three steel makers rose about 3% each.
The auto index gained 1.8%, led by Tata Motors Ltd., which jumped 3.2% after cutting prices across its vehicle portfolios to pass on the full benefit of GST rate cuts to customers.
Other Asian markets opened higher, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rising 0.4% after data showed the U.S. created far fewer jobs than expected in August, raising hopes of a rate cut later this month.
"US labour data and dovish signals from the Fed buoyed expectations of rate cuts, while GST reforms are being viewed as a structural stimuli for domestic markets," said Pravesh Gour, senior technical analyst at Swastika Investmart.
