Indian stocks trade upbeat tracking global peers

New Delhi, Aug 20: Keeping the morning session gains intact, Indian stock indices settled Tuesday's trade in the green, tracking strong overnight cues in the US peers.

Sensex closed the day at 80,802.86 points, up 378.18 points or 0.47 per cent, while Nifty settled at 24,673.45 points, up 100.80 points or 0.41 per cent. Among sectoral indices, banking rose the most today.

US markets have now rallied for eight days in a row, recovering over USD 3 trillion of market cap from the August lows, said analysts.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, "With eight straight days of gains the US market is sending positive signals which can keep this global rally going."

"The Fed chief Powell's comments at Jackson Hole this Friday will be keenly watched by the markets. The likely scenario is a 25 bp rate cut by the Fed in September followed by two more rate cuts this year. This can continue to support the equity markets globally and in India too."

"The decline in Brent crude below USD 78 is a macro positive for India. At the micro level this can lead to a mild rally in stocks of companies that use crude as input such as paints, adhesives and tyres," said Vijayakumar.

"FIIs may continue to sell in India since other emerging market valuations are relatively attractive and, therefore, the large-cap financials where FIIs hold large stakes may continue to remain under pressure. Paradoxically, financials are the most attractive segment from the valuation perspective even though the struggle for deposits is keeping the sentiments negative for this segment. When the scenario changes there is a possibility of a sharp up move in financials."

Data available on the National Securities Depository showed foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have sold stocks worth Rs 21,761 crore in India so far in August. In June and July,

Going ahead into this week, investors will keep an eye on US Fed Chief Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. Also, the US Fed's policy minutes, where the central bank may give hints about its monetary policy stance and possible loosening of interest rates, will be closely monitored.

Today, the Indian rupee inched higher after the dollar index plunged to the lowest in several months and steady international crude oil prices. At the time of writing this story, the rupee was trading at 83.78 as against the previous day's closing of 83.83. Recently, the rupee was shy below the 84 mark.