Benchmark indices ended higher on first day of the new financial year. All the sectoral indices ended in the green. BSE midcap and smallcap indices added over a percent each.
At close, the Sensex was up 708.18 points or 1.21 percent at 59,276.69. The Nifty was up 205.70 points or 1.18 percent at 17,670.50. About 2,564 shares have advanced, 645 shares declined, and 84 shares are unchanged.
Among the top Nifty gainers were NTPC, BPCL, Power Grid Corporation, IndusInd Bank and SBI. Hero MotoCorp, SBI Life Insurance, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and Titan Company were prime laggards.
For 2021-22 fiscal, the BSE Sensex jumped 9,059.36 points or 18.29 percent, while the Nifty rallied 2,774.05 points or 18.88 per cent.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd. said, ''Indian equity markets gave positive returns this week. Globally too, equity markets remained broadly resilient led by optimism on progress in Russia-Ukraine negotiations. On the other hand, commodities saw some correction from the recent highs. In India, markets saw broad based gains with most sectoral indices giving positive returns. Crude oil prices corrected this week and that is some positive for import dependent countries including India."
Technically, the nifty index has formed a Bullish Engulfing Candlestick pattern on the daily chart and also settled above 21-Days Exponential Moving Averages, said Sachin Gupta, AVP-Research, Choice Broking. On a weekly chart, the nifty index has moved above Middle Bollinger Band formation, which suggests bullish strength for the near term. A momentum indicator RSI (14) and MACD indicated positive bias. At present, the index has support at 17470 levels while resistance comes at 17800 levels. On the other hand, Bank nifty has support at 36600 levels while resistance at 37,800 levels.
On the technical front, the key resistance levels for Nifty50 are 18,100 and on the downside 17,400 can act as strong support, said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities. Key resistance and support levels for Bank Nifty are 37,600 and 36,600 respectively.
GST collections up
Government of India collected Rs 1.42 lakh crore GST in March 2022, CNBC-TV18 reported. In February, the figure stood at Rs 1.33 lakh crore.
Markets close positive this week
Investors cheered the strong GST numbers for March while reports about Russia started pulling out some troops from the Ukraine capital also aided the sentiment, said Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities Ltd.
Technically, after a 17,450 breakout the Nifty has maintained breakout continuation formation which is broadly positive. In addition, strong bullish candle on weekly charts along with higher bottom formation also support further uptrend from the current levels. However, traders may prefer to take cautious stance near the 17,800 resistance level due to the market being in an overbought situation. The current texture is likely to continue unless the index slips below 17,450 or 10 day SMA. Above the same, we could see Nifty touching the level of 17800 and further upside could lift the index up to 17,935. On the flip side, 10 day SMA or 17,450/58,400 would be the sacrosanct level for the positional traders and below the same, the index could slip to 17,350-17,200 levels.
Dalal Street shrugged off weak overnight Wall Street cues and the sluggish Asian cues in the morning as upward trend in GST collections and tumbling oil prices buoyed the sentiment, said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd. Bargain hunting and momentum buying will continue to be the preferred theme, as Nifty will be aiming to reclaim 18,000 mark. The impulsive risk-on theme and Nifty’s strong closing shall usher in a ‘new leg to the bull market. Technically, Nifty’s downside should be limited at 17,451 mark.
China stocks close higher
China stocks ended higher on Friday, with property developers leading the gains on expectations of more economic stimulus after data showed factory activity slumped at the fastest pace in two years in March, Reuters said, The blue-chip CSI300 Index rose 1.3 percent to 4,276.16, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9 percentto 3,282.72. The Hang Seng index rose 0.2 percent to 22,039.55, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.2 percent to 7,537.16.
Asian, European markets close positive
In Asia, exchanges in Seoul and Tokyo ended lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the green. Markets in Europe were mostly trading higher.
Stock exchanges in the US ended on a negative note in the overnight session.
Crude prices up
International oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.22 per cent to USD 104.94 per barrel.
FIIs net buyers
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 3,088.73 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.
Production in 8 infra sectors up
Meanwhile, the production of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 5.8 per cent in February, the sharpest growth in the last four months, on the back of better output of coal, natural gas, refinery products and cement industries, according to official data released on Thursday.
(With inputs from Reuters)
