Markets remain firm on sustain buying support

Mirroring their Asian peers, Indian equity markets were trading in fine fettle with Sensex and Nifty crossing 49,800 and 14,900 levels, respectively in the noon trade due to heavy buying in metal, basic materials and consumer durables stocks. Gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Titan Company and Tech Mahindra also helped to lift the markets. The promises of cheap money for an extended period by the RBI and its US counterpart have boosted investors' sentiment. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept interest rates at record lows but committed to a massive government bond purchase programme, helping keep share markets buoyant. Traders took note of World Bank president David Malpass’ statement that there is faster global growth driven primarily by the US, China and India, he further expressed concern over growing inequality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher as traders keeping tabs on the progress of US President Joe Biden’s huge infrastructure plan, while also taking heart from Federal Reserve meeting minutes reinforcing its intention to keep interests at record lows for an extended period. Back home, on the sectoral front, metals stocks rose 3.55% as steel prices in China hovered around a record high.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49896.56, up by 234.80 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 49801.71 and 50118.08. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.95%, while Small cap index was up by 1.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.55%, Basic Materials up by 2.33%, Consumer Durables up by 2.29%, Industrials up by 1.27% and IT was up by 1.09%, while Power down by 0.43%, Energy down by 0.08%, Utilities down by 0.08% and Bankex was down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 3.04%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.39%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.74%, TCS up by 1.57% and Bajaj Finserv was up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 0.58%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.39%, Indusind Bank down by 0.19%, HDFC Bank down by 0.18% and Axis Bank was down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Automobile dealers' body, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest report has showed that passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales witnessed a year-on-year growth of 28.39 per cent to 2,79,745 units in March 2021 as compared to 2,17,879 units in March 2020.

As per the report, two-wheeler sales, however, declined 35.26 per cent to 11,95,445 units last month, as compared to 18,46,613 units in March 2020. Commercial vehicle sales also fell 42.2 per cent to 67,372 units against 1,16,559 units a year ago.

The report further noted that three-wheeler sales dropped 50.72 per cent to 38,034 units last month from 77,173 units in the year-ago period. Tractor sales, however, grew by 29.21 per cent to 69,082 units last month, against 53,463 units in the same month last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14917.15, up by 98.10 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 14864.55 and 14959.90. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 6.24%, Tata Steel up by 4.75%, Hindalco up by 3.88%, Titan Company up by 3.03% and Tata Motors was up by 2.99%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.62%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.50%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.27%, HDFC Bank down by 0.18% and Indusind Bank was down by 0.17% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 111.08 points or 0.66% to 16,926.44, Jakarta Composite soared 17.55 points or 0.29% to 6,054.17, KOSPI rose 8.40 points or 0.27% to 3,145.81, Hang Seng increased 359.83 points or 1.25% to 29,034.63 and Shanghai Composite was up by 12.58 points or 0.36% to 3,492.21.

On the flip side; Nikkei 225 slipped 21.81 points or 0.07% to 29,708.98 and Straits Times was down by 1.89 points or 0.06% to 3,193.87.