Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Monday’s trading session with over half-percent gains on account of heavy buying in ICICI Bank, Wipro and Infosys companies’ stocks. Index made an optimistic start, amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 129.39 crore on April 19, provisional data from the NSE showed. Sentiments remained positive with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the Centre has tailored policies to make India an attractive destination for manufacturing and services, and the aim was to produce not just for the domestic market but for exports as well. Some support also came in as the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) released its provisional payroll data for February, 2024, indicating a positive trend in employment numbers.
In afternoon session, index continued to trade higher, as sentiments remained upbeat with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stating that India's net direct tax collections surged by a massive 17.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 19.58 trillion in the fiscal year ended March 2024, surpassing even revised estimates by a wide margin. Traders took a note of report that Ashima Goyal, external member of the central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC), said consumer price index (CPI) inflation does not have to touch the Reserve Bank of India's 4% target, but sustainably move towards that mark for interest rates to be lowered. In last leg of trade, index extended its gains to end near day’s high point with over half percent gains.
