Indian Stock Exchanges Closed for Eid Celebrations: Trading Resumes Friday

Indian stock exchanges are shut Thursday for Eid, with normal trading activities resuming Friday. The next stock market holidays are on April 17 and May 1, for Shri Ram Navami and Maharashtra Day, respectively. After a mild correction on Tuesday, Indian stock indices were back in the green on Wednesday.

The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rose about 0.5 per cent each during the day. Indian stocks extended positive momentum last week, the first week of the new financial year that started on April 1. Going ahead, India's retail inflation data for March, which will be released on Friday and heat wave alerts from the weather bureau will be keenly watched by investors, for fresh market cues.

Retail inflation in India is at the RBI's two-six per cent comfort level but is above the ideal 4 per cent scenario. In February, it was 5.09 per cent. Inflation has been a concern for many countries, including advanced economies, but India has largely managed to steer its inflation trajectory quite well.

Further, sustained inflows of funds by foreign portfolio investors have also been supporting Indian stock markets.Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have become net buyers for the second month in March in Indian stock markets. They had aggressively sold Indian stocks and turned net sellers in the Indian equity market in January 2024.

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The latest data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed that the FPIs bought stocks worth Rs 35,098 crore in March. In February, they bought stocks worth Rs 1,539 crore. So far in April, they bought stocks worth Rs 10,117 crore, NSDL data showed.