Stock market today: NIFTY50 and SENSEX continue positive momentum; Power, Metals and FMCG are among the top movers

A positive momentum continued over Dalal Street in the mid-market session, with both SENSEX and NIFTY holding notable gains, on the back of heavy buying at Utilities and Power counters, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were positive amid a private report stating that the food inflation in India likely fell below 5% for the first time since June 2023. The report also noted that India's overall retail inflation is expected to have slowed down further in February 2025, falling below the 4% mark, primarily due to a decline in vegetable prices.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as Japan's leading index increased less than expected in January to the highest level in three months. The preliminary data from the Cabinet Office showed that the leading index, which measures future economic activity, rose to 108.0 in January from a downwardly revised 107.9 in December. The score was forecast to increase to 108.4. Likewise, the coincident index that measures the current economic situation came in at 116.2, up from 116.1 in the previous month.

The SENSEX is currently trading at 74574.02, up by 241.44 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 74156.00 and 74741.25. The index had 19 stocks advancing and 11 stocks declining.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.06%, while Small cap index was down by 0.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.15%, Power up by 1.38%, Metal up by 1.08%, FMCG up by 0.86% and Telecom up by 0.62%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.80%, Industrials down by 0.72%, Oil & Gas down by 0.49%, Capital Goods down by 0.48% and Consumer discretionary down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The NIFTY50 traded at 22626.10, up by 73.60 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 22498.65 and 22676.75. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.91%, Hindalco up by 2.57%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.50%, JSW Steel up by 2.00% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.83%. On the flip side, IndusInd Bank down by 2.94%, Trent down by 2.33%, Eicher Motors down by 1.11%, ONGC down by 1.07% and Titan down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 474.12 points or 1.96% to 23,757.18, Jakarta Composite plunged 43.34 points or 0.66% to 6,592.66, Shanghai Composite weakened 16.85 points or 0.5% to 3,355.70, Straits Times fell 11.72 points or 0.3% to 3,902.76 and Taiwan Weighted lost 116.92 points or 0.52% to 22,459.15, while KOSPI increased 8.61 points or 0.34% to 2,572.09 and Nikkei 225 surged 182.72 points or 0.5% to 37,069.89.