Sensex, Nifty open strong, end two-day losing streak

Most of the major indices of global markets were trading in green as Indian equity markets opened on Monday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 265 points to 60,870.77 on Monday morning, while the NSE Nifty advanced 79 points to 18,106.70.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Federal Reserve officials are preparing to slow interest rate hikes for a second straight meeting this year and are debating how much higher to raise them once they gain more confidence. Inflation will come down further.

The report said they could start discussions on Jan 31-Feb 1 before they need to see a further softening of labor demand, spending and inflation this spring.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei gained 308 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 393.67 points and China’s Shanghai 24 points on Monday morning.

In European markets, the FTSE was up 23 points, the CAC 40 was up 44 points, Deutsche was up 113 points while Refinitiv Europe was up 1 point.

In US markets, the Dow Jones was up 330 points, the Nasdaq 288, the S&P 500 up 73 points, while Refinitiv United States was trading in the green.

On Friday, Indian benchmark indices closed with losses for the second consecutive session. The BSE Sensex closed 236.66 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 60,621.77. The Nifty 50 index closed 80.20 points, or 0.44 per cent, down at 18,027.65.

India’s foreign exchange (foreign exchange) reserves increased by USD 10.417 billion to USD 572.0 billion in the week ended January 13, the Bulletin Weekly Statistical Supplementary data of the Reserve Bank of India showed. With this sharp jump, the stockpiles reached a five-month high.

During the week ended January 6, the country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 561.583 billion, earlier data showed. India’s foreign currency assets, the largest component of foreign exchange reserves, rose by USD 9.078 billion to USD 505.519 billion, according to the latest RBI data.

Notably, last year – at the beginning of 2022, the total foreign exchange reserves stood at around USD 633 billion.

Much of the decline can be attributed to RBI intervention and increase in the cost of imported goods. In October 2021, the country’s foreign exchange reserves reportedly touched an all-time high of around USD 645 billion.

Barring the latest surge, foreign exchange reserves had been falling intermittently for months, mainly due to RBI intervention in the market to hedge the rupee’s depreciation against the rising US dollar.