Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 17 (ANI): Indian stock markets opened flat but in the green on Thursday, tracking cautious movement in other Asian markets.

Investors continued to focus on the ongoing first quarter earnings season, which remains the primary driver for market sentiment.

The Nifty 50 index opened at 25,230.75, gaining 18.70 points or 0.07 per cent, while the BSE Sensex began the session at 82,753.53, up by 119.05 points or 0.14 per cent.

Banking and market expert Ajay Bagga told ANI, ''Will he, won't he' was the drama moving markets yesterday. At first, a White House aide revealed that Trump is going to fire Fed Chair Powell and has discussed it with lawmakers. Markets fell, the US dollar fell, and Treasury yields went up. Then, after seeing the market reaction, Trump said he is not going to fire Powell. Markets recovered. But Trump added a footnote, saying, unless Powell is held responsible for fraud. Markets started coasting, holding their breath. This drama is consuming a lot of attention when there are a host of positives which should be taking the markets up.'

He further added 'Indian markets are finding it tough to catch the retail flows and soar due to the continued FPI pessimism, with FPI net short positions once again past the 80 per cent. What is needed is a boost to the economy via GST cuts and a fiscal stimulus. Neither are seen on the horizon. One hope is the huge road contracts that NHAI is going to start signing. This will boost employment, cement, steel , construction and infra stocks. Banks should benefit as well'.

In a major development on the global trade front, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Indonesia. Jakarta will now pay a reduced 19 per cent tariff on its exports to the U.S., down from the 32 per cent levies announced last week following talks with Washington.

Among broader market indices on the NSE, all major indices except the Nifty 100 opened in green. The Nifty Midcap 100 rose by 0.15 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 0.32 per cent at the time of filing this report.

In the sectoral indices, Nifty Auto gained 0.25 per cent, Nifty FMCG and Capital Goods rose 0.14 per cent, Nifty Media was up 0.20 per cent, Nifty Metal surged 0.26 per cent, Nifty Pharma rose 0.58 per cent, and Nifty Realty surged 1.11 per cent. Nifty IT was slightly down by 0.01 per cent.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said, 'We believe 25,100/82,300 will remain a key support zone for traders. As long as the market remains above this level, the bullish trend is likely to persist. On the upside, the market could bounce back to the 20-day SMA or 25,350/83,200. Further upside could even take the market to 25,500/83,800. Conversely, below 25,100/82,300, the trend may change. If the market moves below this level, it may fall towards the 50-day SMA or the 25,000-24,900/82,000-81,700 zone.'

Several major companies are scheduled to announce their Q1 results today. These include Axis Bank, Wipro, Jio Financial Services, LTIMindtree, HDFC Asset Management Company, Indian Hotels Company, Polycab India, Tata Communications, 360 ONE WAM, LMW, Ceat, Clean Science & Technology, Newgen Software Technologies, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation, Waaree Renewable Technologies, and Alok Industries.

In other Asian markets, a mixed trend was visible. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down by 0.15 per cent, Singapore's Straits Times gained 0.31 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.16 per cent, Taiwan's Weighted Index was flat in green, and South Korea's KOSPI slipped by 0.35 per cent. (ANI)