Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Friday’s trading session at record closing high point helped by impressive GDP data. India reported a faster-than-expected 8.4 per cent growth in Q3 GDP led by government capex spending. The National Statistical Office (NSO), which releases the data, revised upwards FY24 growth estimate to 7.6 per cent from the 7.3 per cent projected in January. Index made an optimistic start, amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 3,568.11 crore on February 29, provisional data from the NSE showed. Traders also got encouragement as Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said India’s post-pandemic robust economic momentum will continue for the fourth year in a row with a likely 7% expansion in the next financial year.
Index continued its northward journey in afternoon session, as sentiments got a boost, after India's manufacturing sector continued growth momentum in the month of February, aided by growth in factory production and sales coupled with strongest expansion in new export orders. According to the report, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 56.9 in February as against 56.5 in January, pointing the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since September 2023. Finally, index magnified its gains to end near fresh record closing high.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Bank, Auto and Oil & gas stocks, while selling was witnessed in Media, Healthcare and Pharma. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Steel Authority of India, Tata Steel and Metropolis Healthcare. On the other hand, the top losers ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, Dr. Reddys Laboratories and Zee Entertainment Enterprises. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 22900 - 23100 calls and 20900 - 21100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
