Markets soar at day’s high levels in late afternoon session

Trading strength to strength, benchmark equity indices soared to day’s high levels in late afternoon session on sustained buying activities in index heavyweights, viz Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra. Besides, broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also enlarging their gains. The overall market breadth was positive as 2653 shares were advancing and 658 were declining, while 95 shares were unchanged on the BSE. Traders took support after Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the setting up National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC) as a wholly owned Government of India company. With monetization of non-core assets, Government would be able to generate substantial revenues by monetizing unused and under-used assets. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed. European markets were trading higher amid investors continued to monitor surging commodity prices and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54622.68, up by 1198.59 points or 2.24% after trading in a range of 53367.52 and 54671.36. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 2.32%, while Small cap index was up by 2.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 3.36%, Realty up by 3.32%, Auto up by 2.72%, Consumer Discretionary up by 2.72% and Industrials was up by 2.54%, while Metal down by 0.62% was only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 5.01%, Reliance Industries up by 4.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.59%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.54% and Asian Paints up by 3.88%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.84%, NTPC down by 1.76%, Nestle down by 1.01%, Tata Steel down by 0.93% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, raising some concerns, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hinted that the current spike in international oil prices may upset provisions of her Union Budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1. Sitharaman added that it will certainly have an impact on the Indian economy.

Noting that India imports more than 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements, Sitharaman said ‘when oil prices go up, it is a matter of concern and now we will have to see how it pans out.’ The Minister said that oil marketing companies fix pump prices daily based on a 15-day rolling average.

Nirmala Sitharaman further said ‘but now averages and beyond averages are the numbers that we are talking about. She said the government is watching to see if there are alternative sources from where it can get crude, but hastened to add ‘obviously global markets are all equally unthinkable at various sources.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16339.70, up by 326.25 points or 2.04% after trading in a range of 15990.00 and 16355.55. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 4.85%, Reliance Industries up by 4.74%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.55% and Adani Ports up by 4.01%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 2.65%, Power Grid down by 1.95%, NTPC down by 1.79%, ONGC down by 1.37% and Tata Steel down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng decreased 138.16 points or 0.67% to 20,627.71, Nikkei 225 slipped 73.42 points or 0.3% to 24,717.53 and Shanghai Composite declined 37.14 points or 1.13% to 3,256.39. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 50.26 points or 0.74% to 6,864.44, Straits Times advanced 50.66 points or 1.61% to 3,199.52 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 190.11 points or 1.13% to 17,015.36.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 120.38 points or 1.73% to 7,084.49, France’s CAC increased 199.49 points or 3.35% to 6,162.45 and Germany’s DAX was up by 465.97 points or 3.63% to 13,297.48.