Indian Stock Market Opens Higher As India Climbs To Fourth Largest Global Economy

India’s equity markets opened with strong gains on Monday morning, buoyed by the country’s ascent to the fourth position in the global economic rankings and a supportive macroeconomic outlook.

At around 9:32 AM, the BSE Sensex was trading 640.3 points higher, up 0.78 per cent at 82,361.46.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty rose 187.39 points or 0.75 per cent to trade at 25,040.45.

The broader market also mirrored the optimism, with the Nifty Midcap 100 gaining 426.60 points (0.75%) and the Nifty Smallcap 100 climbing 145.90 points (0.83%).

Sectoral Momentum & Market Drivers

Banking and infrastructure stocks led the rally.

Nifty Bank was up by 408.25 points or 0.74 per cent at 55,806.50.

Among the top performers in the Sensex pack were M&M, PowerGrid, NTPC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, SBI, Tech Mahindra, L&T, Asian Paints, and Axis Bank.

On the flip side, Eternal was the only notable laggard in early trade.

Experts highlighted that India’s milestone of becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy is a key sentiment booster.

“This development offers near-term morale support to the market,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Investor confidence also received a fillip from the Reserve Bank of India’s record dividend payout to the central government.

The amount has exceeded budgetary estimates, aiding the government in keeping the fiscal deficit target for FY26 within 4.4 per cent.

“This could support a continued trend of low inflation and potentially declining interest rates, both of which bode well for equities,” Vijayakumar added.

However, he cautioned that foreign institutional investors (FIIs), while strong in early May, had shown signs of sporadic selling at higher valuations in recent sessions.

Global Market Cues & Upcoming Data

Asian markets offered mixed cues: Bangkok, Seoul, and Tokyo traded in the green, while China, Hong Kong, and Jakarta were in the red.

On Wall Street, major US indices ended lower in the previous session, with the Dow Jones falling 0.61 per cent and the Nasdaq losing 1 per cent.

FIIs remained net buyers on May 23, purchasing equities worth ₹1,794.59 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also showed positive sentiment, buying ₹299.78 crore worth of shares.

Experts believe that crucial data releases- India’s GDP growth numbers, the US Fed meeting minutes, and US inflation figures could significantly sway market direction.

According to Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, ‘Geopolitical risks, earnings season volatility, and derivatives expiry will continue to dominate trading patterns in the near term’.

As markets react to these dynamics, investors remain cautiously optimistic while keeping a close watch on global and domestic triggers.

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