Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Thursday’s trading session in positive terrain, as the Fed kept its interest rates unchanged and stuck on its promise of three rate cuts in the current calendar year. Index made an optimistic start and traded near day’s high point, as traders took some support with CareEdge Ratings stating that India’s economic activity likely hit a nine-month high in February, despite rural demand remaining weak and unemployment rising, thanks to a sharp expansion in exports, imports and corporate bond issuances. The CareEdge Economic Meter, a composite index covering 18 high-frequency economic indicators to track the state of the economy, suggested a 10.3% year-on-year uptick in activity levels.
Index came off day’s high point in early afternoon session, but remained higher till the end, as sentiments remained upbeat after India's business activity expanded at the fastest rate in March, with the strongest increase in private sector output, amid a pick-up in growth at goods producers. Besides, buoyant demand conditions fuelled growth, with aggregate sales rising at a sharp and accelerated pace. HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index - a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors -- rose to 61.3 in March.
All the sectorial indices ended in green. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Hindustan Copper, Power Finance Corporation and Muthoot Finance. On the other hand, the top losers Petronet LNG, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Life Insurance Company. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 22900 - 23100 calls and 21900 - 22100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
