Opening bell: Markets continue their upward trend for the ninth day in a row; Sensex and Nifty trade marginally higher

The major market benchmarks had a slight bullish bias in the early session but traded flat overall.

The Nifty traded over the level of 17,650. Stocks in IT, metal, and auto rose, while those in banking and real estate lagged. The S&P BSE Sensex, a leading index, increased 29.36 points, or 0.05%, to reach 60,327.36 at 09:27 am. Nifty 50 index decreased by 8.65 points, or 0.05%, to 17,965.15. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index increased 0.45%, while the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index increased 0.25% overall.

Market breadth was positive as 838 shares declined and 1739 climbed on the NSE and 111 shares in total remained unchanged. Wipro increased by 1.29%. A multi-year contract to provide Service Integration and Management (SIAM) Services to HM Treasury was given to the company, according to an announcement (HMT). Healthcare company Metropolis fell 1.22%. Vijender Singh was let go by the company as CEO effective at the close of business on August 17, 2022. Greenpanel Industries saw a 1.44% increase. ICRA, a rating agency, raised the company's long-term and short-term ratings from A and A1, respectively, to A+ (stable) and A1+, respectively.

Friday's trade in Asian stocks is uneven against a subdued Wall Street that is trying to continue the recent market bounce. In July, core consumer inflation in Japan reached its highest level in seven and a half years. Government statistics indicated on Friday that the core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food costs, increased 2.4% from a year earlier in July, meeting the median market prediction.

Without accounting for the effects of the sales tax increases, that was the fastest pace since December 2014 and followed a 2.2% increase in June. A positive sales prediction from Cisco Systems helped to boost the technology sector, and data suggested that the economy was still in reasonably good shape as US stocks concluded the day higher.