Indian Equity Benchmarks Open Higher Driven by IT Stocks as Investors Await Jackson Hole Speech

Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Friday, August 28, with technology stocks driving early market gains. The positive opening comes even as investors remain cautious ahead of US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's maiden Jackson Hole keynote address later in the day.

The Sensex opened at 77,128.05 and traded at 77,181.97, up 248.38 points or 0.32 percent, as of 9:25 AM, following a previous close of 76,933.59. The Nifty 50 opened at 24,122.60 and rose to 24,143.30, gaining 52.45 points or 0.22 percent, compared to its previous close of 24,090.85. Both benchmark indices had declined for two straight sessions prior to Friday, weighed down by selling pressure in banking and metal stocks.

Information technology stocks dominated early trade, riding overnight gains on Wall Street. The rally followed Nvidia's second-quarter revenue surging 106 percent year-on-year and beating analyst expectations, which lifted semiconductor and AI-linked technology shares globally. The Nasdaq Composite had closed 1.57 percent higher overnight.

Tech Mahindra emerged as the top gainer on the Nifty 50, rising 3.25 percent to ₹1,636.50 against a previous close of ₹1,585. TCS advanced 2.86 percent to ₹2,312.70, Infosys gained 2.50 percent to ₹1,138.60, HCL Technologies rose 2.33 percent to ₹1,311.90, and Wipro increased 1.84 percent to ₹179.65.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, noted that if the market manages to trade above the 24,000/76,800 support zone, a technical bounce back could follow, pushing indices toward 24,200–24,250 and 77,300–77,500 levels.

Conversely, financial stocks faced selling pressure during early trade. Bajaj Finance fell 1.30 percent to ₹1,068.90, Bajaj Finserv declined 1.10 percent to ₹1,988.90, Shriram Finance slipped 0.77 percent to ₹1,092.50, SBI Life Insurance dropped 0.62 percent to ₹1,762.20, and BEL dipped 0.68 percent to ₹408.20.

External factors continued to influence market sentiment. Brent crude rose nearly 1.8 percent on Thursday to near $88–89 per barrel amid inconclusive diplomatic efforts regarding navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, pointed out that a lack of clarity on this issue weighs on the market, noting that a breakout will require participation from Nifty heavyweights like HDFC Bank, RIL, L&T, and IT majors.

Market participants are closely tracking Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's address at Jackson Hole. The US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE index, came in slightly above expectations at 3.7 percent, creating uncertainty around the interest rate outlook. Additionally, US 10-year bond yields firmed to 4.68 percent, posing a headwind for emerging markets like India. Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, stated that markets are actively looking for signals on the rate path amid this inflation reading.

In institutional activity, foreign institutional investors turned net sellers on Thursday, offloading equities worth ₹298 crore, while domestic institutional investors extended their buying streak with purchases of ₹4,977 crore.

Derivatives data shows a Put-Call Ratio of 1.18, with maximum Call open interest clustered at the 24,300–24,500 range, indicating overhead supply. The India VIX rose to 11.07. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder and CEO of HST Wealth, observed that a single strong session could force call writers to unwind positions and quickly shift market balance in favor of buyers. Analysts broadly expect the Nifty to trade in the 23,800–24,600 range in the near term.

"Global macroeconomic indicators, such as US inflation data and energy supply concerns, continue to heavily influence domestic market direction. While strong performance in the IT sector provided early support following positive global technology earnings, overall market sentiment remains cautious as investors await clear monetary policy signals from the US Federal Reserve. Businesses and market participants must maintain a balanced approach and closely monitor both global interest rate trajectories and institutional capital flows during periods of range-bound trading." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes