Stock market gains momentum on the back of robust GST collection and core sector growth; investors eye global developments

The Indian equity market opened on a positive note on the first trading session of 2023 after settling on a bearish on Friday. The higher GST collection and provisional figures showing growth in core sectors may have brought some temporary relief in the domestic market but the risk of global recession, covid fears and higher-than-ever interest rate regime continue to haunt investors’ expectations.

The BSE Sensex began trading slightly above the previous close at 60,871 points, while NSE Nifty also opened slightly higher at 18,131 points from the previous close and the banking gauge Nifty Bank started trading above the 43,000 mark.

As of 1:55, the Sensex is trading at 61,060, up 220 points or 0.4%, whereas Nifty-50 is trading 63 points or 0.35% higher at 18,169 points and Nifty Bank is trading at 43,133 points, up almost 150 points or 0.32%.

Commenting on a broader trading outlook, Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “There are mixed signals from the economy and markets as trading begins for the New Year. Robust GST collections at Rs 1.49 trillion indicate resilience of the economy and surveys among CEOs reveal that many companies are upbeat about hiring and capex in 2023. This augurs well for India’s economic outperformance again in 2023 and this can lead to market outperformance, too.”

As a word of caution, he added, “However, since valuations continue to be high, there can be selling pressure, particularly from FIIs, in the early days of 2023. Rising bond yield in the US (the 10-year yield is at 3.88%) is negative (for the Indian market).”

Friday marked the last trading session of Wall Street. The US stock market concluded its worst yearly performance this year since the crash of the 2008 housing bubble. For the year 2022, the Dow declined 9.4% while S&P 500 fell almost 20% and the Nasdaq composite lost 34% of its value.

Commenting on a dramatic chain of events that led to the downfall on Wall Street this year, Art Cashin, director of floor operations for UBS, on CNBC’s “The Exchange,” said, “We’ve had everything from Covid problems in China to the invasion of Ukraine. They’ve all been very serious. But for investors, it is what the Fed is doing.”