What is the market outlook for Thursday 10th February after the sharp market bounce in the last 2 days?

The markets showed strength on Wednesday ahead of the Monetary Policy announcement that is expected at around 11.00 am on Thursday i.e. 10th February. On 09 February, the stock markets were sharply higher as a relatively dovish view is being expected in the policy announcement, which could include a reverse repo hike but not a repo hike.

On a day when the Nifty was up by 197 points on Wednesday, the advance decline ratio or the A/D ratio was sharply favourable at 42:8. Among the big gainers for the day were Coal India, Maruti, Indian Oil Corporation and Shree Cements. The major losers in the Nifty included ONGC, BPCL and ITC.

Foreign investors were heavy net sellers in equities at a level of Rs.893 crore while domestic funds and LIC bought stocks worth Rs.1,793 crore on Wednesday 09th February. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been selling aggressively in February. On Wednesday, the Dow closed 306 points higher while NASDAQ added 296 points. SGX Nifty was 50 bps higher in early trades on Thursday.

The big event on Thursday will be the monetary policy announcement. The markets are pencilling in a status quo on repo rates and a possible 25 bps hike in the reverse repo rates. However, of greater interest for the markets will be what happens to the stance of the monetary policy and whether the accommodative stance is given up by the RBI MPC.