Mumbai, February 9 The Sensex and Nifty benchmark indices opened positively on Monday, driven by foreign fund inflows, a rally in Asian markets, and optimism following a fresh trade agreement between India and the US.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 441.77 points, or 0.53 per cent, to close at 84,022.17 in the morning trading session. The 50-share NSE Nifty increased by 129 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 25,822.70.
Among the 30-share Sensex constituents, State Bank of India, Titan, Eternal, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Tata Steel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, IndiGo, Reliance Industries, and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
On the other hand, PowerGrid, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Trent, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,950.77 crore on Friday.
"A significant positive for the market is that FIIs, who had been sustained sellers, have bought in the cash market in three out of the last four trading days. The fact that the derivatives market continues to be heavily net short could provide resilience to the market, given expectations of short covering," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
He added that the recent "anthropic shock" will continue to impact sentiment in the IT sector. Conversely, banking stocks are likely to strengthen on news of improving credit growth, which will have a positive impact on GDP growth and corporate earnings in FY27.
In Asian markets, the Nikkei 225, Kospi, SSE Composite index, and Hang Seng index of Japan, South Korea, China, and Hong Kong, respectively, were trading higher.
Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities, said that Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, led by Sanae Takaichi, secured a decisive victory, pushing the Nikkei to record highs.
He noted that Indian equities are likely to benefit as Japanese capital shifts away from China under Takaichi's "Economic Security" policy, with billions in FDI expected to flow into Indian infrastructure and technology sectors.
Vakil further said that India and the US reached an interim trade agreement on Saturday, ending their ten-month tariff war, with Washington reducing tariffs on Indian goods from 50 per cent to 18 per cent.
India successfully protected sensitive agricultural sectors like dairy while committing to purchase USD 500 billion in US goods over five years, focusing on energy, aircraft, and defence technology.
The deal strategically integrates India into the US-led "Pax Silica" initiative for critical minerals and AI supply chains, positioning India as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific, he added.
US markets ended more than 2 per cent higher on Friday.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined by 0.94 per cent to USD 67.41 per barrel.
On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced by 266.47 points to close at 83,580.40, while the NSE Nifty climbed by 50.90 points to end at 25,693.70.
