Stock market today: Indian equity benchmarks, Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, opened flat in trade on Friday. While Nifty50 was near 25,250, BSE Sensex was down 50 points. At 9:17 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 25,263.15, down 27 points or 0.11%. BSE Sensex was at 82,257.49, down 50 points or 0.061%.Analysts are of the view that the stock market will take cues from global trends, key macroeconomic signals and the ongoing quarterly earnings season on Friday, with results due from companies such as JSW Steel, Shriram Finance, BPCL, Godrej Consumer, Cipla, MCX and Piramal Finance.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “The pattern of sustained FII selling and DII buying which dominated the market trend in 2025 has been continuing in 2026, too, so far. Whether this pattern will change with FIIs also turning buyers is the important question which investors have been asking for sometime now. Partly, the Budget to be presented on February 1st will offer some insights, if there are some market-friendly proposals.” “More importantly, the FII stance towards India will be determined by the trend in India’s corporate earnings. Higher earnings growth alone can ensure sustained buying by FIIs since they have the option to invest in other markets where valuations are cheaper and earnings are better. Since earnings growth is sometime away and the FII selling strategy is expected to continue, preempting any healthy rally, the market is heavily net short. FIIs are adding to the short positions on every rally triggered by some positive news. The broader market, where FII presence is limited, is likely to witness action in response to Q3 results.”Wall Street ended higher on Thursday for a second consecutive session as investor sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump withdrew tariff threats against European allies, while economic data underscored the resilience of the American economy. Asian markets mirrored the positive lead on Friday, supported by encouraging US data and easing geopolitical tensions.In currency markets, the US dollar was on track for its steepest weekly decline in a year after President Donald Trump’s remarks on Greenland and a swift policy reversal unsettled investors. Gold hit another record high, while silver and platinum also extended gains to fresh peaks, driven by geopolitical and economic uncertainties, a weaker dollar and expectations of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.On the domestic front, foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of equities worth Rs 2,549 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors provided support to the market with net purchases of Rs 4,223 crore.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
