Nifty, Sensex poised for subdued opening tracking Asian peers

Stock market news: Benchmark indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 are poised for a subdued opening on Tuesday, in line with Asian counterparts, as investors await crucial US economic indicators that could sway interest rate expectations in the world's largest economy.

As of 8:40 am, the GIFT Nifty was pegged at 22,116.50, indicating a likely opening near Monday's close of 22,122.05 for the NSE Nifty 50.

During the previous session, both the benchmark Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex retreated by approximately 0.4 per cent, primarily driven by declines in the information technology sector and profit-taking activities following recent record highs. The Nifty had scaled new peaks in all five sessions last week.

Rupak De, a senior analyst at LKP Securities, said, "Nifty 50 has slipped below the crucial support of 22,200. The index is likely to remain sideways during the next few days."

Across Asia, markets opened with little change, while Wall Street witnessed losses overnight ahead of the release of US durable goods order data on Tuesday.

Market sentiment regarding the timing of the next US interest rate adjustment is being closely influenced by the upcoming release of the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, scheduled for Thursday. Expectations for an early rate cut have diminished, with markets now foreseeing a probable cut in June instead of the previously anticipated March, given recent higher-than-anticipated inflation figures and robust labor market data.

On the domestic front, foreign investors offloaded shares worth Rs 285 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors divested shares worth a net Rs 5.33 crore.

Key stocks to monitor:

• Paytm: The company's founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, resigned from the payments bank board in a significant restructuring move.
• Union Bank of India: The lender successfully raised 30 billion rupees through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) at an issue price of Rs 13,565 crore. Notable investors in the QIP included Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, HDFC Life, and SBI Life.
• Wipro: The company unveiled a collaborative 5G private wireless solution with Nokia, aimed at facilitating enterprises in scaling their digital transformation endeavours.