Indian stocks on strong footing, Sensex soars around 1,300 points

At the time of filing this report, Sensex was at 79,752.03 points, up 1,244.62 points or 1.59 per cent.

Experts stated that the upcoming Q3 results season will now decide the market's movement. Afterwards, the market is expected to shift focus towards expectations from the Union Budget and the policy decisions of the Trump 2.0 administration.

"Trump 2.0 start remains the main global event of the month and year," Ajay Bagga, a veteran banking and market expert.

Financial services firm Geojit's Head Investment Strategist, Gaurang Shah, asserted better than expected advance tax collection numbers, firm GST collections, strong Q3 outlook for some sector, boosted market sentiments. He expects some profit booking going ahead.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in December, in gross terms, were at Rs 1.76 lakh crore, with a yearly jump of 7.3 per cent. So far in 2024-25, the total GST collection has been 9.1 per cent higher at Rs 16.33 lakh crore, as against Rs 14.97 lakh crore mopped up in the corresponding period of 2023.

Indian stock market touched two-week high with gains in key sectors.

Auto, tech, and financial services sectors were primary contributors to the market's rise, Kedia Advisory said. However, investor caution persists due to potential new tariff policies under Donald Trump's presidency.

The Sensex still remains nearly 6000 points below its all-time high of 85,978 points.

In 2024, Sensex and Nifty accumulated 9-10 per cent each. In 2023, Sensex and Nifty gained 16-17 per cent, on a cumulative basis. In 2022, they gained a mere 3 per cent each.

Weak GDP growth, foreign fund outflows, rising food prices, and slow consumption were some of the hurdles this year, keeping many investors at bay in 2024.

The Indian rupee are also hovering their all-time lows, weighed down by the expectation of fewer Fed rate cuts, coupled with a widening trade deficit, and weak economic growth seen in the first two quarters of 2024-25. (ANI)