Market opening: SENSEX rises 160 points, NIFTY50 above 26K level as metal stocks rally; JSW Steel top gainer

The Indian stock market opened higher on Wednesday, October 29, supported by a continued rally in metal stocks and upbeat global cues. Investor sentiment was further boosted by sustained foreign fund inflows.

The broader market, however, was trading mixed, with both Nifty Midcap 100 marginally rising by 0.02% and Nifty Smallcap 100 losing 0.27%.

Among sectors, Nifty Metal took the lead, surging 1.16%, followed by Nifty Oil and Gas (0.70%) and Nifty Pharma (0.47%). Nifty Auto (-0.74%), Nifty PSU Bank (-0.1%) and Nifty Realty (-0.03%), however, slipped in the early session.

According to exchange data, on Tuesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹10,339.80 crore on a net basis, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹1,081.55 crore worth of equities.

Globally, indices in Asia were trading higher on optimism about US-Japan trade ties and expectations of another Federal Reserve rate cut. Japan’s index touched a record high.

Japan's Nikkei rose 2.04%, South Korea's KOSPI jumped 1.42%, and the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.37%.

On Wall Street, US stocks surged to yet another record high as gold prices dropped and hopes of a Fed rate cut strengthened. The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday will kick off a string of policy announcements this week by global central banks, including those in Japan, Canada, and Europe.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.23%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34%.

As many as 2,659 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,622 were trading in the green, 947 were trading in the red, and 90 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market breadth was in favour of advances.

Meanwhile, 55 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 17 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 39 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 14 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading 0.66% up at 12.03 levels.

JSW Steel led the gains, rising 1.44%, followed by HDFC Life Insurance (up 1.14%), Asian Paints (1.1%), Tata Consumer Products (0.99%), and Larsen & Toubro (0.9%) among the top performers.

On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra (-1.2%), Eicher Motors (-0.95%), Shriram Finance (-0.58%), Eternal (-0.57%) and Bajaj Finance (-0.51%) were the biggest laggards on the 50-share index.