Key gauges end with marginal gains

Indian equity markets gave up most of their gains in the fag-end but managed to end with marginal gains on Tuesday backed by strong global cues. Markets made a positive start and remained in range-bound throughout the session, as traders took some support with Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the Modi government has provided a corruption free regime in the last 10 years and the country in the next few years will become the world's third largest economy. Sentiments remained positive with a survey showing that India's business activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly 14 years in the month of April thanks to robust demand. It also showed easing input inflation and positive jobs growth. That suggests India is well placed to remain the fastest growing major economy this year after posting strong expansion over the past few quarters. HSBC's flash India Composite purchasing managers' Index INPMCF=ECI, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 62.2 this month from March's final reading of 61.8. The reading has been consistently above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction since August 2021.

Sentiments remained positive in late afternoon deals, taking support from RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Shashanka Bhide’s statement that sustaining the economic growth momentum of 7 per cent in 2024-25 and beyond is feasible on the back of favorable monsoon, higher farm productivity and improved global trade. Traders also took a note of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that reverse migration has started in which a lot of people, who have a global footprint, are finding businesses, professions and careers to be built in India. She said ‘Ideally, India should be a country which is worth for our grandchildren to stay and live and lead their lives and contribute for the country rather than run away from here because opportunities, job satisfaction, career enhancement, are better there and not here.' However, markets pared some gains in final minutes of trade as traders remained on sidelines ahead of key updates on U.S. inflation and corporate earnings this week.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher after a survey showed that business activity in the euro zone expanded at its fastest pace in nearly a year this month. The composite PMI increased from 50.3 to 51.4 in April on the back of a buoyant recovery in the bloc's dominant service sector. Asian markets finished mostly in green on Tuesday mirroring firm cues from global markets as the risk of a significant escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran eased

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 89.83 points or 0.12% to 73,738.45 and the CNX Nifty was up by 31.60 points or 0.14% points to 22,368.00.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 74,059.89 and 73,688.31 respectively. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 1.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 4.27%, Realty up by 2.42%, TECK up by 1.23%, Utilities up by 0.95% and Consumer Durables up by 0.82%, while Energy down by 0.78%, Oil & Gas down by 0.61%, Healthcare down by 0.57% and Metal down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.38%, Nestle up by 1.77%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.53%, HCL Technologies up by 1.42% and Tata Motors up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.63%, Reliance Industries down by 1.42%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.00%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.63% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Shashanka Bhide has said that sustaining the economic growth momentum of 7 per cent in 2024-25 and beyond is feasible on the back of favorable monsoon, higher farm productivity and improved global trade. During 2023-24, the economy is likely to record a growth rate of near 8 per cent on account of good performance of manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

Bhide stated ‘(India's economic) Growth in the current year is likely to be supported by agriculture with a favourable monsoon and improved global trade. Sustaining the growth momentum of 7 per cent seems feasible.’ Further, he said that in the long-term, the need for productivity improvements will remain the key factor to achieve food price stability. 

Besides, he said ‘The slow pace of recovery in global demand on one hand and supply chain disruptions on the other hand... if the ongoing geopolitical conflicts are not resolved quickly, (it will) pose significant challenge in terms of demand as well as input prices.’ He said ‘We should also be prepared for minimising the adverse impact of extreme weather events on output.’

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 22,447.55 and 22,349.45. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 3.90%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.83%, Nestle up by 1.66%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.48% and Tata Motors up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.56%, BPCL down by 1.65%, Reliance Industries down by 1.36%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories down by 1.18% and Hindalco down by 1.06% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 48.22 points or 0.6% to 8,072.09, France’s CAC rose 56.66 points or 0.7% to 8,097.02 and Germany’s DAX gained 201.5 points or 1.13% to 18,062.30.

Asian markets finished mostly in green on Tuesday, on increased risk appetite in the market followed by fading Middle east tensions and on mirroring tech sector stock rally with its peers on Wallstreet overnight. Supportive measures by Chinese government to stem the ailing economy and the latest better than expected Q1 GDP data buoyed investor sentiments. Bargain hunting ahead to corporate earnings results from major corporates also aided the positive trend. Nikkei advanced with the softer local currency yen and continued accommodative monetary settings by BoJ.