Sensex rises over 150 points as retail inflation eases; Nifty above 22,100

India's rate eased slightly in April, partly due to lower fuel prices, although food prices remained elevated, government data showed on Monday.

Annual retail inflation in April was 4.83%, down from 4.85% in March.

, , , M&M, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, and Reliance Industries opened with gains, while Asian Paints, Axis Bank, ITC, TCS, and ICICI Bank opened with cuts.

Meanwhile, constituent Shriram Finance rose 5% after the non-banking finance firm unveiled plans to sell its housing finance business to U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus in a $554.6 million deal.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) shares rose over 5% in early trade after the rail infrastructure developer bagged a work order worth Rs 239 crore from Southern Railway.

On the sectoral front, PSU Bank rose 0.7%, led by Canara Bank, PSB, and Bank of Maharashtra. Nifty Media, Metal, Realty and Oil & Gas also opened higher, while Nifty FMCG, Pharma, and Healthcare indices opened lower.

Experts View
"The trend in May of sustained selling by and sustained buying by DIIs continues. This trend is likely to continue and the spike in will ensure high volatility. Under these circumstances the best option for investors is to wait and watch for a trend change, which can happen any time," said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Buy on dips would be a good strategy now. FII-heavy stocks which have borne the brunt of FII selling are good picks for bottom fishing. Leading banks, capital goods majors, leading autos and top IT companies like TCS are fundamentally strong," Vijayakumar said.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 22,050 followed by 22,000 and 21,900. On the higher side, 22,200 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 22,250 and 22,300."

Global Markets
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed slightly and hit its highest since early 2023 in morning trade, as a strong rally in Hong Kong shares extended into a fourth consecutive week. Japan's Nikkei was flat.

World stocks and the S&P 500 were steady overnight, poised just below record peaks.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign investors (FIIs) sold Indian shares worth Rs 4,499 crore on a net basis on Monday, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 3,563 crore in stocks. FIIs have been sellers in 24 of the last 29 sessions.

Crude Oil
Oil prices rose on Tuesday as the supply-demand balance looked set to tighten on operational disruptions, stronger demand and voluntary output cuts.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 11 cents to $79.23 a barrel. Brent crude futures gained 12 cents, reaching $83.48 a barrel.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee opened on flat note at 83.51 against US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, rose 0.04% to 105.26 level.

(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)