Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets traded in green throughout the day and settled near intraday high levels. Nifty scaled up fresh high levels in today’s trade amid sustained buying by investors. Traders were braced for key macroeconomic data i.e. Index of industrial production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data due on Friday. Oil & Gas and Metal sectors’ stocks witnessed healthy buying during the day. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended in green. 

Indices made positive start and widened their gains amid fall in crude oil prices overnight as talks for a ceasefire in Gaza continued. Some support came in with a private report that India is expected to see a normal monsoon in 2024, promising some respite after a prediction of more-than-normal heat wave days in the summer preceding the June-September rainy season. Monsoon rains are expected to be 102% of the long-period average of 868.6 mm for the four-month period. Traders took a note of the US National Security Advisor’s statement that the partnership between India and the United States has reached a new height with collaboration on technology and other fields. Markets continued to trade higher in afternoon session as investors continued to hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. In late afternoon session, markets hit day’s high points ignoring geopolitical tensions. 

On the global front, European markets were trading higher amid bets that cooler inflation will allow the European Central Bank (ECB) to start lowering borrowing costs sooner than the Federal Reserve. Asian markets ended mostly in red as investors awaited U.S. CPI data and the Fed's March meeting minutes to assess the speed and timing of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Back home, Credit rating agency ICRA has revised the banking sector outlook to Stable from Positive on the expectation of moderation in credit growth and profitability metrics, though the same would continue to remain healthy. It said while the compression in the interest margins over the last 18 months has been driven by rising deposit cost, the expectations of a rate cut in H2 FY2025 could lead to margin pressure, driven by a likely downward repricing of advances.

The BSE Sensex ended at 75,038.15, up by 354.45 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 74,807.55 and 75,105.14. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.89%, while Small cap index was up by 0.46%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.74%, Energy up by 1.71%, Metal up by 1.66%, PSU up by 1.42% and Basic Materials was up by 1.30%, while Utilities down by 0.07% and Auto was down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.49%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.40%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.11%, SBI up by 1.94% and Asian Paints up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.60%, HDFC Bank down by 0.83%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.73%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.62% and Tata Steel down by 0.48% were the top losers. (Provisional)\

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India and the United States (US) partnership, the US National Security Advisor (NSA) - Jake Sullivan said that the partnership has reached a new height with collaboration on technology and security and so many other dimensions. He said ‘I think if you look at the US role and standing in its relationships across the key regions of the world, we feel very good about where we are’.

He also said ‘If you look at what's happened with NATO, we've made NATO larger than ever, if you look at what's just happening this week, a historic trilateral with the US, Japan, and the Philippines. If you look across the Indo-Pacific at how we've upgraded our relations not just with traditional allies, but with the likes of Vietnam, Indonesia, ASEAN as a whole’. 

He further said ‘... he's hosted all of the leaders of the Pacific Islands, that he's hosted all of the leaders of Africa at a summit in the United States, that the United States has increased its investments in the infrastructure, physical, digital, energy infrastructure in the Americas, in Africa and Southeast Asia and beyond’. He said the US has expressed its concerns to China about inputs to Russia’s industrial base.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22,753.80, up by 111.05 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 22,673.70 and 22,775.70. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.75%, BPCL up by 3.24%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.55%, ITC up by 2.49% and Hindalco up by 2.45%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.96%, Cipla down by 1.89%, Divi's Lab down by 1.73%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.59% and Shriram Finance down by 0.88% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 44.98 points or 0.56% to 7,979.77, France’s CAC rose 35.44 points or 0.44% to 8,084.61 and Germany’s DAX was up by 109.23 points or 0.6% to 18,185.92.

Asian markets ended mostly down in thin holiday trade on Wednesday with caution ahead of US inflation data and the Fed's March meeting minutes for further clarity on the US Fed's monetary policy trajectory. Stock markets of Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramadan Eid) and South Korean market was closed for parliamentary elections. Japanese shares fell after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda assured that the central bank would not adjust its policy directly in response to currency fluctuations, while concerns continue to grow over the yen's weakness. Chinese shares declined after a rating downgrade of China's sovereign credit rating to negative by Fitch, while Hong Kong shares rose led by technology stocks. Meanwhile, investors are focusing on Chinese inflation data due on Thursday.