Opening Bell: Nifty, Sensex start flat; energy, metal, IT stocks shine

The Indian market opened on a flat note amid volatility in the global markets. Benchmarks opened marginally lower as the broader Nifty50 and the Sensex opened near their previous closings. The former started at 15,774.50 and the latter opened at 52,897.16 

Outperforming benchmark indices, the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices rose by 0.4% and 0.8% respectivel in the broader market.  

On the sectoral front, except autos, all Nifty indices were trading higher in the green. Metal, Energy, IT, Banks were the top gainers.  

In the preopen, the Sesex fell by around 130 points as 17 stocks advanced, 12 declined and one remained neutral on Thursday.  

"Fed chief Powel renewed his hawkish statement on Wednesday that the central bank is determined to control inflation and that "soft landing is possible, but extremely challenging". From the market perspective, what is interesting is that the US markets largely ignored this and ended up almost flat. This may be an early indication that the markets are bottoming out," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. 

The decline in FPI selling to Rs 851 crore yesterday from the June average of around Rs 2700 cr also can be interpreted as early signs of selling exhaustion, the expert pointed out. Data will have to be monitored to see whether this trend sustains, he said. 
 
"In the near-term market movement will be increasingly influenced by the FY23 Q1 results expected from the second week of July onwards. Results of banking, IT and autos (PVs and CVs particularly) are likely to be good and those of metals, cement and some FMCG may disappoint," Vijayakumar added.  

Earlier, SGX Nifty Futures rose by more than 40 points on the Singaporean exchange, while Japanese Nikkei 225 declined almost one per cent in early trade on Thursday.  

Meanwhile, Hang Seng Index at the Hong Kong exchange dropped 0.30% and Chinese Shanghai Composite gained 0.40% on Thursday morning.  

Earlier on Wednesday, the US benchmark Dow Jones gained 0.27%, while Nasdaq and S&P500 closed marginally lower by 0.03% and 0.07%.