Benchmarks end first trading session of FY25 on strong note

Extending the winning streak to a third straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended first trading session of FY25 on a strong note on Monday, led by buying in Realty, Telecom and Metal stocks. The markets made a gap up opening and traded higher thereafter as traders took support with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India's gross domestic product (GDP) is on track to grow by 8 percent or more in the quarter ended March 31. Some support also came 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. Additional support 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.

A firm trade continued in markets in late afternoon deals, taking support from India's executive director at International Monetary Fund (IMF) Krishnamurthy Venkata Subramanian’s statement that Indian economy can grow at 8 per cent till 2047, if the country can redouble the good policies that it has implemented over the last 10 years and accelerate reforms. Some optimism also came with provisional data from the NSE showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 188.31 crore on March 28. Traders also took support with domestic rating agency Care Ratings’ report that the gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) of the Indian banking system are set to improve further to up to 2.1 per cent by the end of FY25. It mentioned GNPAs are likely to come at 2.5-2.7 per cent in FY24 and will improve further to 2.1-2.4 per cent by the end of FY25. 

On the global front, Asian markets settled mixed on Monday as softer U.S. inflation data bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve would deliver its first interest rate cut of the year in June.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 363.20 points or 0.49% to 74,014.55 and the CNX Nifty was up by 135.10 points or 0.61% to 22,462.00. 

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 74,254.62 and 73,909.39 respectively. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.64%, while Small cap index was up by 2.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 4.18%, Telecom up by 3.44%, Metal up by 3.39%, Basic Materials up by 2.91% and Utilities up by 2.62%, while Auto down by 0.25% and Consumer Durables down by 0.05% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 4.81%, Tata Steel up by 4.62%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.38%, NTPC up by 1.88% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.76%, Nestle down by 1.43%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.82%, Indusind Bank down by 0.77% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.45% 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 traded in a range of 22,529.95 and 22,427.75. There were 31 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 4.86%, Tata Steel up by 4.46%, Divi's Lab up by 4.14%, Shriram Finance up by 3.27% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.69%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 1.66%, Titan Company down by 1.47%, Nestle down by 1.25%, LTIMindtree down by 0.98% and Tata Consumer Products down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets settled mixed on Monday. Market in Hong Kong closed for Easter holiday. South Korea's Kospi average ended almost flat with gains as soft US inflation data boosted bets that the US central bank could cut interest rates in June. US prices moderated in February, with the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rising 0.3%, data showed. Chinese shares gained after an official survey showed Chinese manufacturing activity expanded in March, with the official purchasing managers' index coming in at 50.8, up from 49.1 a month earlier. Also, China's factory activity expanded at its fastest rate in 13 months, the private sector Caixin PMI showed. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI inched up to 51.1 in March from 50.9 the previous month, above forecasts of 51 and marking an expansion for the fifth consecutive month. Japanese shares declined sharply as the Japanese currency yen pinned near intervention zone. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei share average dropping below the key 40,000 mark due to profit booking on the first day of the country’s financial year.