Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Wednesday’s trading session flat with positive bias, ahead of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) data for the April-June quarter, scheduled to be released on August 31. Index made an optimistic start, as investors took support with RBI data showing that interrupting a two-month streak of decline, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) rose sequentially to $1.85 billion in July over $1.07 billion in June, an increase of 73 per cent. Some support came as BSE data showing that Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were net buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 61.51 crore.
Index continued to trade on higher note in afternoon session, as sentiment were positive with report that the Centre is likely to infuse capital in certain regional rural banks (RRBs) during 2023-24, depending on their performance and adoption of digitization. Traders overlooked CARE Ratings stating that the erratic monsoon, which is affecting sowing, and global developments will keep the food inflation at elevated levels and would also hit the demand in rural India owing to lower income and inflation. However, selling in last leg of trade dragged market near neutral lines.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, IT and Auto stocks, while selling was witnessed in Bank, Financial Services and Private Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Escorts Kubota, Indian Hotels Company and Jubilant FoodWorks. On the other hand, the top losers were Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Bandhan Bank and India Cements. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 19400 - 19600 calls and 19200 - 19400 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
