Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Tuesday’s trading session on a flat note, as investors awaited key U.S. inflation numbers due later in the week for clues on the Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates. The U.S. reports on consumer and producer price inflation will be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, while the Bank of England's interest-rate decision is scheduled on Thursday. Index made a positive start, as sentiments were positive after Fitch Ratings affirmed India's sovereign rating with a stable outlook and said that the country has a robust growth outlook and resilient external finances. It has affirmed the country’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-' with a Stable Outlook and added that strong growth potential is a key supporting factor for the sovereign rating.
Index continued to trade on a higher note in afternoon session, as sentiments remained upbeat with Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth’s statement that Indian financial system is well protected and regulated despite the daunting global financial situation. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank’s gold reserves increased by 34.22 tonne year-on-year to reach 794.64 tonne at March-end 2023. The Reserve Bank held 760.42 metric tonnes of gold (including gold deposits of 11.08 metric tonnes) at the March-end of 2022. However, in late afternoon session, index cut almost all of its gains to close flat with a positive bias.
Traders were seen piling positions in IT, Auto and Pharma, while selling was witnessed in PSU Bank, Realty and Consumer Durables. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Mahanagar Gas, Birlasoft and Tata Communications. On the other hand, the top losers were Oracle Financial Services Software, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 18900 -19100 calls and 17900 -18100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
