Markets open higher as inflation worries ease; auto stocks are top gainers

• SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Indian markets, was up 0.33%.
• Positive global markets cues, FII inflows and cooling inflation in India and global markets to aid market momentum.
• Sensex and Nifty50 are trading 0.7% higher each at 59,865 and 17,819 points respectively.

Benchmark indices started the week on a positive note taking cues from global markets and support from foreign inflows.

Sensex is trading 0.7% or 396 points higher at 59,865 and Nifty50 is also at 0.7% or 121 points higher at 17,819.

Most of the gains came from auto company shares with Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp being among top gainers on the benchmark indices.
Also, market momentum is positive because of easing inflation data in India and in the US, which cools off worries about aggressive monetary policy decisions.

On Friday, India's annual retail inflation eased to 6.7% in July from 7.01% in the previous month. Moreover, it has dipped below 7% for the first time in four months. However, it remained above the central bank's tolerance band of 2-6%.

According to Upasna Bhardwaj, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank, CPI headline inflation has moderated inline with their expectations; but the core inflation remains elevated and sticky.

“CPI headline inflation for July has moderated inline with our expectations led largely by food inflation while the core inflation remains elevated and sticky. The coming few readings are expected to be a tad above 7% with inflation likely to hover above RBIs upper threshold limit of 6% until January 2023,” said Bhardwaj.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices slipped slightly on demand worries from China.

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