Firm trade persists over Dalal Street in early noon deals

A firm trade persisted over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets, as Middle East tensions eased and investors looked ahead to a slew of U.S. data due this week for additional clues on when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Domestic sentiments were positive, as the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional payroll data’ report has showed that 15.48 lakh net members have been added in the month of February 2024. The data further indicated that around 7.78 lakh new members have been enrolled during February 2024. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Indonesia's foreign trade surplus increased in March from a year ago as imports fell much faster than exports. The figures from Statistics Indonesia showed that the trade surplus rose to $4.47 billion in March from $2.83 billion in the same month last year. In February, the surplus was $0.83 billion. Exports fell 4.19 percent year-over-year in March, and imports plunged by 12.76 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73495.32, up by 406.99 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 73227.32 and 73728.18. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 0.92%, while Small cap index was up by 1.35%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.54%, Industrials up by 1.81%, Capital Goods up by 1.52%, Realty up by 1.32% and Consumer discretionary up by 1.09%, while Telecom down by 0.27% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.27%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.18%, Axis Bank up by 2.15%, Wipro up by 2.06% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.79%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.60%, HDFC Bank down by 0.81%, JSW Steel down by 0.69%, Indusind Bank down by 0.27% and ITC down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das stressed that the success in controlling inflation has to be preserved and taken forward to achieve a 4 per cent inflation target on a durable basis. He further said the baseline projections show inflation moderating to 4.5 per cent in 2024-25 from 5.4 per cent in 2023-24 and 6.7 per cent in 2022-23.  

He said ‘this success in the disinflation process should not distract us from the vulnerability of the inflation trajectory to the frequent incidences of supply-side shocks, especially to food inflation due to adverse weather events and other factors.’  

The governor said the economic growth prospects of the Indian economy in 2024-25 look bright.  He said the strong growth momentum, together with our GDP projections for 2024-25, give us the policy space to unwaveringly focus on price stability. Price stability is our mandated goal and it sets strong foundations for a period of high growth.’ He also said lingering geo-political tensions and their impact on commodity prices and supply chains are also adding to uncertainties in the inflation trajectory.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22296.75, up by 149.75 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 22198.15 and 22337.10. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 3.42%, Eicher Motors up by 2.95%, BPCL up by 2.88%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.35% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.24%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.48%, HDFC Bank down by 0.79%, JSW Steel down by 0.70%, Indusind Bank down by 0.24% and ITC down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 330.38 points or 2.04% to 16,554.52, Straits Times rose 46.62 points or 1.47% to 3,223.13, KOSPI increased 37.58 points or 1.43% to 2,629.44 and Nikkei 225 surged 370.26 points or 0.99% to 37,438.61, while Taiwan Weighted lost 115.9 points or 0.6% to 19,411.22, Jakarta Composite plunged 26.81 points or 0.38% to 7,060.51 and Shanghai Composite weakened 20.46 points or 0.67% to 3,044.80.