Sensex, Nifty trade firm in early deals; Metal stocks shine

Indian equity benchmarks, after coming from long weekend holiday, made optimistic start on the first trading session of the financial year 2024-25. Markets are trading firm in early deals on Monday with gains of around 0.70% each on account of heathy buying in metal stocks. Sentiments got a boost after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's gross domestic product (GDP) is on track to grow by 8 percent or more in the quarter ended March 31. Traders took encouragement as growth in output of the eight key infrastructure sectors - known as the core sector - rose to a three-month high of 6.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in February from 4.1 per cent in January. Some support also came in with a report that foreign investors made a strong return by injecting more than Rs 2 lakh crore into Indian equities in 2023-24, driven by optimism surrounding the country's robust economic fundamentals amidst a challenging global environment. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the lack of any major cues from global markets which were closed for Good Friday. Some support came in by gains in China after domestic data showed manufacturing purchasing managers index expanded in March for the first time since September. Hong Kong market is closed for Easter Monday holiday.

Back home, Automobile industry stocks are on traders’ radar owing to the monthly sales report. Metal stocks traded higher after an official survey revealed China's manufacturing purchasing managers index expanded in March for the first time since September. In stock specific development, Adani Ports traded higher after it recorded 24% growth in cargo volumes in FY24.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74128.64, up by 477.29 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 73943.15 and 74254.62. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jumped 1.20%, while Small cap index was up by 1.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.96%, Metal up by 1.80%, Basic Materials up by 1.72%, Industrials up by 1.59% and Realty up by 1.57%, while there was no loser on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 3.23%, Tata Steel up by 2.08%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.41%, Tata Motors up by 1.35% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 0.45%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.30%, Titan Company down by 0.12%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.06% and Reliance Industries down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s growth prospects, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has said that the country needs to grow at 9-10 per cent for the next three decades to become a $35 trillion economy by 2047. He further said India is going to be the third-largest economy by surpassing Japan and Germany by 2027. India's economy grew at better-than-expected 8.4 per cent in the final three months of 2023, logging the fastest pace in the past one-and-a-half years.

He added ‘Our ambition should be that by 2047, not merely we should be a $35 trillion economy, but we should be able to raise the per capita income of every single individual to $18,000 plus from current $3,000’. The size of the Indian economy is currently $3.60 trillion. Noting that eastern states like Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Bihar need to grow at high rates, Kant said ‘If these states start firing and growing at 10 per cent plus, then India will grow at 10 per cent plus’.

Post-Lok Sabha elections, Kant said India should herald a huge range of reforms across education, health and nutrition. He said ‘If the quality of governance and implementation improves at the state level, then you will see massive transformation in India's growth story’. Kant said India needs many more large companies, as when large companies come in, they produce their own supply chain in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22487.10, up by 160.20 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 22443.35 and 22529.95. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 3.55%, Tata Steel up by 2.12%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.93%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.64% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 0.15%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.11% and Indusind Bank down by 0.08% were the few losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Shanghai Composite strengthened 31.12 points or 1.01% to 3,072.29, Straits Times rose 19.01 points or 0.59% to 3,243.02 and KOSPI increased 9.94 points or 0.36% to 2,756.57. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slipped 410.49 points or 1.03% to 39,958.95, Jakarta Composite fell 92.75 points or 1.29% to 7,196.06 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 37.08 points or 0.18% to 20,257.37.