Indian equities in Friday's session tracking mixed Asian markets ahead of the key address by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Symposium later on Friday.  At the start, Nifty opened flat at 24,817.7, up 0.02 per cent or 6.2 points, while Sensex was up 0.05 per cent or 37.36 points at 81,090.55. Broader markets, 

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Sectorally, the sentiment is mixed, with auto, pharma, metal, PSU bank, oil & gas and consumer durable stocks in the green, while IT, realty, financial services and FMCG pack saw some weakness.

Nifty FMCG index after logging fresh highs in early trade witnessed some profit booking and traded lower by 0.06 per cent.

 Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "Market is witnessing significant sectoral churning.

The PSU stocks rally which gave excellent returns in recent months is losing steam. For PSU banking stocks, the turnaround story which took the PSU banks from losses of Rs 87000 crores in FY 2018 to profits of Rs 1.41 lakh crores in FY 2024 is over. But the valuation of this segment is still attractive, he added.

Globally the market’s focus today will be on Jerome Powell’s comments at Jackson Hole on the economy and the possible rate cut trend. Powell is likely to sound dovish indicating a rate cut in September.

Stocks in focus:

Hindustan Zinc shares traded with a cut of nearly 1 per cent at Rs 514.35 amid centre's divestment buzz which may take off soon as per Zee Business exclusive report.

Ambuja Cements traded higher by nearly 3 per cent at Rs 650.55 as in the pre-opening block deal window 3.39 crore shares changed hands in the counter.

Technical outlook on Nifty

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services on the Nifty outlook said, "reasonable upsides, followed by intraday supports rushing in to restrain downswings summarised yesterday. We are not far from the 24900-975 objective that we had set out with, early in the week, but we are inclined to play downswings today, especially if Nifty shows disinclination to float above 24817."

Downside objectives are limited to 24700 though, with not enough momentum visible, that may be required for directional moves, for which we may have to wait for next week, he added.

Asian markets

Meanwhile, Asian markets traded mixed at the last count, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.35 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei and Singapore's Straits Times were up mildly as focus shifts to an upcoming address by the Federal Reserve Chairman.