Stock market today: Nifty50 settles 48 points up at 25,776; Sensex ends at 83,817.69

Stock market today: Equity benchmark indices, Nifty50 and Sensex, ended marginally higher in a range-bound session, with selective buying in frontline stocks helping benchmarks stay in the green.The BSE Sensex settled 78.55 points higher at 83,817.69, while the NSE Nifty50 gained 48.45 points to close at 25,776.00, holding above the 25,750 mark.Among major movers on the benchmarks, Trent and Eternal advanced about 5 per cent each. Power Grid, NTPC and Adani Ports also ended higher, while select IT and financial stocks saw mild pressure.Broader market action remained stock-specific, with several midcap and smallcap counters witnessing sharp gains. Suven Life Sciences surged 15.42 per cent, followed by Sheela Foam at 14.17 per cent and Avanti Feeds at 12.23 per cent. Adani Power rose 7.44 per cent, while IDBI Bank advanced 6.71 per cent.On the downside, selling pressure was visible in select technology and midcap names. Latent View Analytics declined 7.49 per cent, Infosys dropped 7.37 per cent and Triveni Turbine fell 7.16 per cent. Tata Consultancy Services lost 6.99 per cent, while Coforge slipped 5.97 per cent. Earlier, experts said that market experts said sentiment is likely to remain constructive, supported by a combination of recent trade developments with the US and the European Union, announcements made in the Union Budget, and stock-specific triggers emerging from the ongoing third-quarter earnings season.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, "The rally fuelled by the US-India trade deal will face hurdles to sustain. The IT selloff in the US yesterday will drag the Indian IT index,too, constraining the rally in the Indian market. Since valuations continue to be high there is no fundamental support for a sustained rally. A trigger from monetary policy scheduled on 6th Feb is unlikely since the MPC is expected to retain the rates and stance with a dovish tone. The economy is now in a state where a monetary stimulus is not required. So, it is likely that the MPC will wait to see the monetary transmission play out. The auto numbers on January suggest that the buoyant demand continues.” “Yesterday’s 639 point rally in the market was mainly driven by FII short covering and their buying of Rs 5236 crores in the cash market. Given the valuations, this bullish trend is likely to run out of steam. Investors should stick to fairly valued largecaps. The sectors that are expected to gain from exports to the US, like textiles and apparels, gems and jewellery and marine processing will witness some more price action."Foreign portfolio investors returned as strong buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 5,236.28 crore during the session, exchange data showed. Domestic institutional investors also provided support, with net purchases of Rs 1,014 crore.Global cues, however, were mixed. Wall Street ended sharply lower on Tuesday as fears that artificial intelligence could intensify competition in the software space unsettled investors. Caution ahead of quarterly results from Alphabet and Amazon, due later this week, further weighed on sentiment in US markets.(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)