Markets continue to trade in high spirit

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in high spirit in noon session, with frontline gauges inching towards their crucial 17150 (Nifty) and 57200 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments remained upbeat with the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) President TV Narendran stating that the country’s economy is likely to grow 7.5-8 per cent this fiscal year (FY23) with exports playing a key role in the country’s success story. Traders took note of a private report stating that real-time payments are forecast to boost India's GDP by $45.9 billion in 2026 as real-time payments transaction volumes are set to exceed 206 billion by that time. Meanwhile, the much awaited Life Insurance Corporation of India is expected to float its maiden public issue on May 4. The offer may remain open to subscription till May 9. The LIC board will meet today to take decision on the price band for the IPO, lot size, policyholder reservation, and discount. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as global growth fears stoked by China's strict Covid-19 curbs and an expected streak of aggressive Federal Reserve tightening sapped risk appetite.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets, and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too equally participated in the rally. None of the sectoral indices were trading in the red, while auto and realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 2083 shares on the gaining side against 1210 shares on the losing side while 120 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57179.81, up by 599.92 points or 1.06% after trading in a range of 57066.24 and 57333.49. There were 29 stocks advancing against 1 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.47%, while Small cap index was up by 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.30%, Realty up by 2.20%, Power up by 2.02%, Utilities up by 1.85% and FMCG was up by 1.63%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.78%, Indusind Bank up by 3.46%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.53%, SBI up by 2.38% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Asian Paints as down by 0.05% was the only losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat has said that India's non-fossil energy capacity will reach 500GW by 2030 and the country shall meet half of its energy requirements through renewable energy, reducing the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45 per cent.

Furthermore, Saraswat said India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030. By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero. He also highlighted that deep decarbonisation requires broad-based systems approach across a portfolio of options including clean energy carriers such as Hydrogen and Methanol and Renewables.

Talking about the use of alternative fuels to reduce import and emissions, NITI Aayog member said that presently BioCNG, ethanol and methanol are alternative fuels available with India and in future green Hydrogen will be available through renewables, which will lead to a reduction in emissions by 40 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17144.10, up by 190.15 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 17110.30 and 17181.85. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.73%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.73%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.71%, Adani Ports up by 3.57% and Indusind Bank was up by 3.52%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.62%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.78%, Hindalco down by 0.40% and Asian Paints was down by 0.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 109.33 points or 0.41% to 26,700.11, KOSPI rose 12.44 points or 0.47% to 2,669.57, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 23.89 points or 0.14% to 16,644.79 and Hang Seng was up by 125.67 points or 0.63% to 19,995.01

On the flip side; Jakarta Composite lost 18.42 points or 0.26% to 7,197.56, Straits Times fell 7.53 points or 0.23% to 3,332.06 and Shanghai Composite was down by 25.41 points or 0.87% to 2,903.10.