Dalal Street extends gains ahead of key earnings, macro data

Amid caution ahead of key domestic and global macroeconomic data, Indian equity indices opened flat on Wednesday as gains from HDFC twins and ITC were offset by losses in Reliance, Infosys and Kotak Bank.

The Nifty 50 index rose 48 points or 0.27% to 17,770, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 125 points or 0.21% to 60,282, as of 9.19 am.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, HDFC, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were the top gainers, rising about 0.5-1%. L&T, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement and M&M also opened with gains. On the flip side, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Kotak Bank, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra opened with cuts.


Sula Vineyards zoomed nearly 11% as the company sees 15% YoY growth in sales of own brands in Q4 at Rs 104 crore. Titagarh Wagons shares jumped nearly 6% as the consortium of Bharat Heavy Electricals and the company awarded an order for 80 Vande Bharat trainsets by Indian Railways.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Pharma surged 1% and Nifty Metal rose 0.58%. Banks, auto, financials, media, realty, consumer durables and oil & gas stocks also opened with gains. In the broader market, Nifty Smallcap50 rose 0.27% and Nifty Midcap50 gained 0.18%.

Experts View
"There are some clear trends in the market now. Confidence and stability have returned to the market helping Nifty to rise by 4.5% from the March lows. This, in turn, has been facilitated mainly by the sustained buying by FIIs," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

"Globally, today’s March US inflation data is crucial since it will determine the Fed response in the May policy meeting. March CPI print in India, too, will be keenly watched," Vijayakumar said.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities said, "Nifty could now stay in the 17639-17800 band in the near term waiting for economic data like India CPI and IIP and US CPI for further triggers."

Global Markets
Wall Street stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, losing steam late in the session as investors awaited crucial inflation data and the unofficial kick-off of first-quarter reporting season.

The Dow closed in positive territory with economically sensitive sectors such as industrials, materials and transports providing a boost, while tech and tech-adjacent megacap stocks pulled the Nasdaq to a lower close. The bellwether S&P 500 ended essentially unchanged.

Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, as markets watched for key inflation data likely to influence the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% in early trading to 28,097. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.7% to 20,345 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.3% to 3,322.

Crude price rises
Oil prices were little changed in early trading on Wednesday after industry data showed an unexpected build in US crude and gasoline inventories, offsetting concerns about tightening supply ahead of output cuts by OPEC producers. Brent crude fell 5 cents at $85.57 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate fell 6 cents to $81.48 a barrel.
Crude price falls

Oil prices were little changed in early trading on Wednesday after industry data showed an unexpected build in US crude and gasoline inventories, offsetting concerns about tightening supply ahead of output cuts by OPEC producers. Brent crude fell 5 cents at $85.57 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate fell 6 cents to $81.48 a barrel.

Rupee Strengthens
The Indian rupee rose 7 paise to $82.05 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.10% to 102.1 level.

(With inputs from agencies)