• India’s Sensex had a relatively flat opening on Thursday after making a strong recovery on Wednesday.
• Wednesday saw the Sensex reach new all-time highs above 74,000, aided by banking companies.
• US ADP and JOLTs statistics were subpar, while US Nonfarm Payrolls and Fed Chair Powell’s comments were scrutinized.

One of the important benchmark indices in India, the Sensex 30, saw two-way trading on Wednesday before closing the day somewhat flat.

Present With Nifty futures down 0.24% for the day, it appears likely that the Sensex 30 index will correct lower.

Thanks to the subpar Services PMI releases from China, India, and the US, the Indian index had an amazing turnaround on Wednesday after faltering due to a negative outlook in the market. Sensex traders’ day was saved by a rally in the Indian banking sector stocks as the index set new records.

As of this writing, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 is trading at 74,074.41, nearly unchanged from its all-time high of 74,151.27.

Stock market news

• JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Bajaj FinServ, Asian Paints, and SBI Bank are among the early Sensex gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys, and Titan are the primary underachievers in early trading, in contrast.

• After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered JM Financial Products Ltd. to stop providing financing against shares and debentures, M Financial saw a nearly 14% loss in early trading.

• Together, LTIMindtree Ltd. and Aramco Digital founded a digital and IT services business in Saudi Arabia that specializes in industry 4.0 integration and disruptive digital services.

• For $5.85 million in cash, Wipro purchased a 27% share in B2B sales platform SDVerse LLC.

• Bharti Airtel approved the distribution of 56.8 lakh shares to FCCB holders at a conversion rate of Rs 518 per share.

• Following US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, the US stock markets remained stable. Powell stated that if inflation stays low, interest rate reductions will probably be in store for the upcoming months.

• ADP revealed on Wednesday that the US private sector added 140,000 jobs in February, somewhat less than the anticipated 150,000 gains but up from the upwardly revised 111,000 in January.

• The US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) announced on Wednesday in the Job Opportunities and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that there were 8.86 million job opportunities as of the final business day of January. The number was marginally below the 8.9 million market forecast and followed 8.88 million (updated from 9.02 million) openings in December.

• According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are currently pricing in a 70% likelihood that the Fed might start easing rates in June, which is just higher than the 63% probability observed a day ago.

• The Indian markets will be closed on Friday in honor of the Mahashivratri festival. Thus, this week will be shorter than usual.

• This week’s key event risks for the markets are the testimony of US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell and the crucial US Nonfarm Payrolls data. Powell is scheduled to testify later in the day before the Senate Banking Committee.

• The week-long National People’s Congress (NPC) gathering in China is still the center of attention because it may reveal new stimulus plans.