Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets ended near day’s high points on Monday, with both the Nifty and Sensex gaining over 1% despite ongoing geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan. After making a slightly positive start, soon markets extended their gain and remained higher throughout the day, fueled by strong quarterly earnings from Reliance Industries, robust performance across most of the banking stocks, and continued buying support from foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

Some of the important factors in trade:

India's forex reserve rises for seventh straight week: Some support came as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that India's foreign exchange reserves rose $8.310 billion to $686.145 billion in the week that ended on April 18, extending gains for the seventh straight week. 

Engineering goods exports touch $116.67 billion in FY25: Traders took support with the Engineering Exports Promotion Council (EEPC) stated that engineering goods exports from India reached its all-time high of $116.67 billion in fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the previous high of $112.10 billion achieved in fiscal 2021-22. 

Direct tax collection grows 13.57% in FY25: Investors got support as net direct tax collection for the financial year 2024-25 has grew by 13.57 per cent to over Rs 22.26 lakh crore. 

Global front: European markets were trading in green ahead of a slew of earnings announcements, and some crucial economic data due this week.  Asian markets ended mostly in green as optimism about an improvement in U.S.-China trade relations also appears to be supporting the market.

The BSE Sensex ended at 80218.37, up by 1005.84 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 79341.35 and 80321.88. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.34%, while Small cap index up by 0.39%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 3.02%, Oil & Gas up by 2.90%, PSU up by 2.09%, Capital Goods up by 1.93% and Auto up by 1.65%, while IT down by 0.09% was the only losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 5.10%, Sun Pharma up by 2.97%, Tata Steel up by 2.45%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.29% and SBI up by 2.28%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.91%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.85%, Nestle down by 0.63%, Eternal down by 0.59% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.57% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing an optimism over India’s growth prospects, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Mahlhotra has said that policy continuity and stability, financial stability, fiscal prudence and efficiency, thrust on infrastructure, renewed focus on manufacturing, demographic dividend, innovation, continued focus on Ease of Doing Business and reforms, digitalisation are among factors that will push India’s growth trajectory over the medium to long-term. He said that the Indian economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience and dynamism. Over the past four years (2021-22 to 2024-25), it has recorded an average annual growth rate of 8.2 per cent.

The central bank chief noted that ‘It was and continues to be the fastest-growing major economy in the world’. He added ‘This is a significant step up from the average growth rate of 6.6 per cent in the preceding decade (2010 to 2019).’ He supplemented ‘Even this year, our growth is expected to remain robust at 6.5 per cent. This is despite the tremendous increase in uncertainty and volatility in global financial markets. While this rate is lower than in recent years and falls short of India’s aspirations, it remains broadly in line with past trends and the highest among major economies’.

Over the last ten years, India has leapfrogged from the tenth-largest economy to the fifth-largest. India is poised to become the third-largest economy shortly. Citing research that shows political and policy stability is a prerequisite for long-term investment planning to fuel growth in any economy, the RBI Governor said India’s vibrant democracy has ensured the same over the decades. Explaining India’s financial stability, he said the country’s financial sector is strong and vibrant, efficiently catering to the funding requirements of various economic agents. The Indian capital markets - equity and debt - have increasingly deepened, providing avenues for market-based funding to businesses. India’s capital markets have witnessed record participation from retail and institutional investors, channelising savings into productive investments. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 24328.50, up by 289.15 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 24054.05 and 24355.10. There were 40 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 5.26%, Sun Pharma up by 3.03%, JSW Steel up by 2.91%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.50% and Tata Steel up by 2.38%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 5.10%, HCL Technologies down by 1.83%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.01%, Eternal down by 0.94% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.58% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 65.71 points or 0.87% to 7,601.97, Germany’s DAX gained 193.8 points or 0.87% to 22,436.25 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 36.04 points or 0.43% to 8,451.29.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday amid rejuvenated hopes for progress in trade talks. The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is working on bilateral trade deals with 17 key trading partners, not including China, and that the latter needs a de-escalation. Expectations of further stimulus from China, also aided market sentiments. China's finance minister Lan Fo'an said the country will take measures to achieve its annual economic growth target of around 5 percent despite escalating trade tensions. However, gains remained capped as China denied any talks with the U.S. over tariff exemptions, calling out Washington for 'misleading' the public. Japanese markets eked out modest gains ahead of the Bank of Japan's rate decision due later in the week, with no policy change expected. Seoul stocks edged up slightly in cautious trade as investors assessed interim progress in trade negotiations between Seoul and Washington.