Markets log 5-day winning run on fresh foreign fund inflows

Indian equity benchmarks extended their winning streak for the fifth consecutive session, gaining over half a percent on Friday driven by strong foreign fund inflows that bolstered market sentiments and investors’ confidence. A stronger rupee and recovery in information technology stocks from day's lows bolstered sentiments. 

Some of the important factors in today’s trade: 

Fresh foreign capital inflows: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 3,239.14 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data. 

EPFO adds 17.89 lakh net members in January 2025: EPFO’s provisional payroll data for January 2025 has revealed a net addition of 17.89 lakh members in the month of January, exhibiting 11.67% Y-o-Y growth. This 11.67% Y-o-Y growth signifies employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives.

Services sector should aim to exceed merchandise exports next fiscal: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India's services exports are registering healthy growth rates and the sector should aspire to reach $450 billion in exports, overtaking merchandise shipments, in the next financial year.

Rupee logs strong gains against dollar: Rising for the sixth straight session, Indian rupee appreciated against the US dollar on a sharp rise in the domestic equity markets and fresh foreign capital inflows. 

Weak global cues: European markets were trading lower as investors fretted about increasing global economic uncertainties resulting from geopolitical tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs. Asian markets settled mostly down as tariff worries and rising Middle East tensions prompted traders to book some profits after recent gains. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 557.45 points or 0.73% to 76,905.51, and the CNX Nifty was up by 159.75 points or 0.69% to 23,350.40.  

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 77,041.94 and 76,095.26 respectively. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.14%, while Small cap index was up by 2.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.25%, Utilities up by 2.11%, Telecom up by 1.91%, Energy up by 1.86% and PSU up by 1.63%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.79% and Metal down by 0.42% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.78%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.75%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.41%, Axis Bank up by 2.13% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.34%, Tata Steel down by 1.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.08%, Titan Co down by 0.91% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India's services exports are registering healthy growth rates and the sector should aspire to reach $450 billion in exports, overtaking merchandise shipments, in the next financial year. He added the goods trade is facing headwinds in the current global situation. He said the services sector should be targeting $450 billion in exports in 2025-26 and about $385-390 billion this fiscal.

In 2023-24, the services exports stood at $341 billion, an increase of 4.85 per cent over the previous year. In April-February 2024-25, the services exports increased 14.1 per cent to $354.9 billion. On the other hand, goods exports contracted 3.1 per cent year-on-year to $437 billion in 2023-24. This year in April-February, the goods exports were up 0.06 per cent at $395.6 billion.

The minister also said that achieving 15-18 per cent growth in services exports is feasible as newer technologies get introduced and a greater number of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) of multinational companies open up in the country. He said at last count the number of GCCs operating in India hit 1,650. He said that while information technology and information technology-enabled services account for $200 billion of total services exports, other growth areas for services like tourism, accounting and financial services are coming back in a big way.

However, he said the IT and ITeS will have to remain at the forefront. He said because of the learnings during Covid while delivering services remotely, the complaints over the non-availability of enough H1B visas are hardly heard. The minister said he would still prefer that more and more services be delivered from remote locations and not from client locations as it would add to the competitiveness of the services by reducing costs. Another benefit of delivery from home would be that salaries are paid in India. Taxes on salaries will also be collected in India and will boost the economy.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 23,402.70 and 23,132.80. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 3.43%, NTPC up by 3.29%, ONGC up by 2.72%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.67% and BPCL up by 2.56%. On the flip side, Trent down by 1.60%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.45%, Wipro down by 1.38%, Hindalco down by 1.27% and Infosys down by 1.25% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 32.95 points or 0.38% to 8,669.04, France’s CAC fell 49.19 points or 0.61% to 8,045.01 and Germany’s DAX lost 159.27 points or 0.69% to 22,839.88.

Asian markets settled mostly down on Friday, tracking Wall Street’s modest fall overnight on US President Donald Trump's tariffs fears, and signs of escalating geopolitical tensions following reports of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and a huge blast triggered by a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian airfield. Chinese and Hong Kong shares dropped as China stimulus expectations faded, while investors are awaiting results from some of China's biggest banks and consumer firms due next week. Moreover, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined, despite weaker yen and softer inflation data.