Stock market to open subdued, Tata Power, L&T, TVS Motor in focus

Stock market today: The stock markets are anticipated to open with subdued activity on Thursday, mirroring the lacklustre performance of the previous session. Pessimism prevails among investors, largely influenced by escalating volatility and significant selling by foreign investors.

At 8:31 a.m. IST, the Gift Nifty was trading at 22,388, indicating a marginal deviation from Wednesday's closing level of 22,302.50 for the Nifty 50.

The ongoing elections in the country coupled with selling pressure from foreign investors have contributed to investor apprehension, evident in the volatility index reaching a 15-month high for the third consecutive session as of Wednesday.

Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President of Research at Religare Broking, noted that prevailing market sentiment is likely to remain pessimistic amid heightened volatility.

On Wednesday, foreign portfolio investors offloaded Indian shares worth Rs 6,669 crore ($799 million), while domestic institutional investors net purchased stocks worth Rs 5,929 crore. This marked the 21st session out of the last 26 where FPIs have been net sellers.

Meanwhile, in Asian markets, trading remained subdued as investors awaited China's trade data, while the yen stabilised following three consecutive days of declines amid discussions of potential currency intervention by Japan.

Overnight, Wall Street saw a mixed performance among equities.

Domestically, investors are keenly awaiting financial results from Nifty constituents such as State Bank of India and Asian Paints. Additionally, market reaction to Larsen and Toubro's fourth-quarter results, which surpassed expectations but revised revenue outlook amidst election and geopolitical risks, will be closely monitored.

Key stocks to watch include Bank of Baroda, which announced the lifting of restrictions on adding customers to its mobile application; Tata Power, reporting a strong profit surge in the fourth quarter driven by robust energy demand; and Piramal Enterprises, a non-banking financial company, which reported fourth-quarter profits aided by the reversal of AIF provisions.

(With Reuters inputs)