Sensex, Nifty trade higher with decent gains in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made positive start on Monday 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. Sensex and Nifty are trading higher with decent gains in early deals. Sentiments got a boost as the tax department said that India's net direct tax collections surged by 17.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 19.58 lakh crore in the fiscal year ended March 2024 and exceeded the revised estimates by Rs 13,000 crore. 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. However, upside remained limited as some cautiousness came after the Reserve Bank of India data showed that India’s forex reserves contracted by $5.4 billion to $643.16 billion as of April 12. Previously, forex reserves surged by $2.9 billion to an all-time record high of $648.56 billion, for the week ended on April 5, 2024. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the mixed cues from global markets on Friday, as easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East lifted market sentiment. Some traders also picked up stocks at a bargain after the sell-off last week. However, interest rate concerns linger after another US Fed official signaled a longer timeline for interest rate cuts. Back home, insurance industry stocks are in focus with report that the new business premium (NBP) of the life insurance industry grew 15.6 per cent in March to Rs 60,214 crore. The premium earned by an insurer from new contracts in a given period is referred to as the new business premium. In stock specific development, Laurus Labs gained on zero observations from USFDA.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73273.86, up by 185.53 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 73227.32 and 73728.18. There were 23 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.63%, while Small cap index was up by 1.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.19%, Industrials up by 1.04%, Consumer Durables up by 0.83%, Capital Goods up by 0.82% and PSU up by 0.78%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral front. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.18%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.84%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.83%, Axis Bank up by 1.55% and HCL Technologies up by 1.43%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.27%, HDFC Bank down by 1.09%, JSW Steel down by 0.28%, ITC down by 0.20% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s growth, Sanjiv Puri, president-designate of leading industry body CII, has said that the country is growing when the world is going through a phase of stress. He said that the present juncture is an interesting moment. He also said ‘CII has a rich legacy built over decades. We will certainly be looking forward to contributing to the growth of the economy and industry’.

He said ‘This is also an interesting moment because this is India’s moment. There has been numerous policy interventions made internally, and the global factors which give us the tailwinds. The country is growing at a time when the world is at stress.’ Puri said that there are lots of opportunities in India which has a huge talent pool. He added ‘The world is looking at us so far as supply chain and digital transformation are concerned. India also has the advantage of the demographic dividend’.

He said big opportunities lay both in services and manufacturing. He said ‘The country needs to harness these opportunities. Reforms agenda to accelerate and enterprises need to play competitiveness’. He stressed the need for an inclusive and sustainable growth which is important to create livelihoods. He said ‘Industry can survive when society thrives. Decarbonisation will address the issue the climate change but will take time. Enterprises and government need to work together’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22218.40, up by 71.40 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 22198.15 and 22337.10. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.99%, Wipro up by 2.15%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.91%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.75% and Axis Bank up by 1.72%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.20%, HDFC Bank down by 1.08%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.32%, JSW Steel down by 0.27% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng jumped 282.52 points or 1.71% to 16,506.66, Nikkei 225 surged 120.37 points or 0.32% to 37,188.72, Straits Times rose 43.85 points or 1.36% to 3,220.36 and KOSPI increased 21.43 points or 0.82% to 2,613.29. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 100.19 points or 0.52% to 19,426.93, Jakarta Composite fell 47.75 points or 0.68% to 7,039.57 and Shanghai Composite was down by 14.37 points or 0.47% to 3,050.89.