Indian stocks rise marginally; rupee appreciates further in early trade

Indian stock indices traded marginally higher this morning, while the rupee continued with its appreciation against the US dollar.

At the time of writing this report, Sensex traded at 61,278.82 points, up 93.67 points or 0.15 per cent, whereas Nifty traded at 18,231.55 points, up 28.75 points or 0.16 per cent.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, Coal India, Adani Ports, Britannia, Indusind Bank, and Cipla were the top five stocks. In contrast, Hindalco, Divi's Laboratories, Power Grid Corporation of India, and NTPC were the top losers in early trade, National Stock Exchange data showed.

"The strong momentum and favourable sentiments in the market can take the Nifty to record highs soon. The favourable tailwind from the mother market US and the sustained FII buying are strong positives," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Since India is the best-performing large market in the world this year, FIIs can't afford to miss the rally. This is why FIIs have been sustained buyers during the last 8 trading sessions with a total buy figure of Rs 16670 crores."

Meanwhile, the rupee opened at 81.39 against the US dollar versus the previous close of 81.91 on Monday.

For the record, Indian stock markets were closed Tuesday because of Guru Nanak Jayanti. Yesterday's holiday was the last for the current calendar year 2022. There were 13 trading holidays this year, the list available on exchange websites showed.

The Indian rupee had been weakening over the past several weeks to hit fresh new all-time lows as the US dollar strengthened against major global currencies.

In October, the rupee breached the 83 mark for the first time in its history. So far this year, the rupee has depreciated around 10 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )