Domestic bourses maintain momentum

Domestic bourses continued to trade in fine contour on continued buying by funds and retail investors, both Sensex and Nifty were trading above 57,700 and 17,300 marks, respectively. Sectorally, hefty buying witnessed in IT, TECH and Capital Goods stocks apart from this gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Asian Paints, Reliance Industries and Infosys also helped to lift the markets. Sentiments were upbeat as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva said a high growth rate for India, as projected in the latest World Economic Outlook, is not only healthy for the country but also positive news for the world. In another positive development, Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC) stated that services sector exports are likely to touch $350 billion in the current fiscal. It said the target has been revised from $300 billion to $350 billion for 2022-23 and is set in consideration to the sectors which couldn't perform in the last 2 years due to the pandemic and hopefully will bounce back in FY23.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed due to increased risk appetite in the market followed by Federal Reserve’s remark that the US economy rebounded at a moderate pace since mid-February, raising hope for the global economic recovery. Back home, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on his 2 day visit to India. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that his long-delayed visit to India will deepen the strategic trade, defence and people-to-people ties between the two countries. He is also likely to meet with businessman Gautam Adani.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57757.95, up by 720.45 points or 1.26% after trading in a range of 57311.86 and 57801.77. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 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 1.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.46%, TECK up by 1.37%, Capital Goods up by 1.36%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.33% and Industrials was up by 1.30%, while Metal was down by 0.44% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.51%, Reliance Industries up by 2.38%, Infosys up by 2.09%, TCS up by 2.05% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.56%, Power Grid down by 0.66% and Nestle was down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, labour bureau statement has said that retail inflation for farm and rural labourers increased to 6.09 per cent and 6.33 per cent, respectively, in March 2022 mainly due to higher prices of certain food items and clothing. It noted that point to point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (consumer price index-agricultural labourers) and CPI-RL (consumer price index rural labourers) stood at 6.09 per cent and 6.33 per cent in March 2022, compared to 5.59 per cent & 5.94 per cent, respectively, in February 2022, and 2.78 per cent and 2.96 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month (March 2021) of the previous year.

Similarly, it stated that the food inflation stood at 4.91 per cent and 4.88 per cent in March 2022, compared to 4.48 per cent and 4.45 per cent, respectively, in February 2022, and 1.66 per cent and 1.86 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year (March 2021). The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for agricultural and rural labourers for March 2022 increased by 3 points each to stand at 1,098 and 1,109 points, respectively. The CPI-AL and CPI-RL were 1,095 points and 1,106 points in February 2022.

It further said the major contribution towards the rise in the general index of agricultural labourers and rural labourers came from the clothing, bedding and footwear group to the extent of 1.09 and 1.44 points, respectively, mainly due to the increase in prices of saree cotton (mill), dhoti cotton (mill), shirting cloth cotton (mill), plastic chappal/ shoes, leather chappal/shoes, etc. The rise/fall in the index varied from state to state. In the case of agricultural labourers, it recorded an increase of 1 to 10 points in 16 states and a decrease of 2 to 10 points in 4 states.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17342.90, up by 206.35 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 17215.50 and 17350.65. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.86%, Asian Paints up by 2.47%, Reliance Industries up by 2.41%, Infosys up by 2.14% and Adani Ports was up by 2.10%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.50%, JSW Steel down by 1.20%, Cipla down by 1.07%, Power Grid down by 0.59% and ONGC was down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 335.21 points or 1.23% to 27,553.06, KOSPI rose 9.52 points or 0.35% to 2,728.21, Straits Times advanced 14.43 points or 0.43% to 3,349.75 and Jakarta Composite was up by 36.42 points or 0.5% to 7,263.78.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted dropped 20.93 points or 0.12% to 17,127.95, Shanghai Composite declined 72.78 points or 2.31% to 3,078.27 and Hang Seng was down by 460.81 points or 2.2% to 20,483.86.