Indian stock indices settle steady; July inflation data in focus

New Delhi: Indian stock indices closed Wednesday's trade largely on a steady note. Sensex closed at 58,817.29 points, down just 35.78 points or 0.061 percent, whereas Nifty closed at 17,534.75 points or just up 9.65 points or 0.055 percent.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, 30 traded in the green and the rest 20 in red, National Stock Exchange data showed. For the record, the financial markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Muharram.

"Investors were in a cautious mode in anticipation of the release of US inflation statistics (today), which will set the tone for the next FED policy meeting," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
"The US CPI inflation during July is projected to remain high, in line with June inflation levels. This, along with strong job data, will compel the FED to keep taking a tough approach to reining in high inflation level."
Inflation in the US is currently at an over four-decade high.

Meanwhile, barring today's tepid performance, Indian stock indices has been rallying for the past three weeks on account of the return of foreign portfolio investors after nine long months as well as inflation seemingly plateauing. Foreign portfolio investors becoming net buyers in Indian stock markets again after nine long months renewed the investors' sentiment.
In July, FPIs bought equities worth Rs 4,989 crore and became net buyers after nine months, National Securities Depository (NSDL) data earlier showed.

In the past month, the indices - Sensex and Nifty - gained around 7-8 percent each, respectively. Notably, the Indian stocks recorded their best weekly performance during the week to July 22 marking its best week since February 2021.
For fresh cues, Indian stock market investors will also await retail inflation data for July, which is expected on Friday.