The Sensex and Nifty opened in the green area Friday, tracking overnight strength in US markets and solid Asian indices this morning. This comes after the two indices went through a three-day losing streak to close on Thursday with substantial gains, up about one percent. At 09:16 IST, the Sensex rose 442.07 points or 0.81 percent to 54694.60, and the Nifty rose 138.30 points or 0.86 percent to 16308.50.
IndusInd Bank, Infosys, M&M, Bajaj Twins, Tech M, HCL Tech, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, ITC and Tata Steel led the way on the Sensex-30 index, gaining up to 2 percent.
SunPharma, Dr. Reddy’s, Asian Paints, NTPC and PowerGrid, meanwhile, were the only ones left behind.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices also started solidly positive, rising to 1.2 percent.
Sector-wise, Nifty IT was up more than 2 percent after a sharp rally in Nasdaq overnight. Nifty Banks, Financials, Auto, Media, Metals and PSBs also gained significantly, by about one percent each.
AstraZeneca Pharma’s shares rose more than 6 percent. The company reported a two percent increase in March net profit of Rs 27.98 crore over the same quarter last year.
On the other hand, Muthoot Finance fell more than 7 percent. The company’s consolidated net profit declined 2.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 997 crore for the quarter ended March 2022. Consolidated revenues declined 2.7 percent to Rs 3,021 crore.
dr. VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Market data indicates weakness in the US market is coming to an end. The Fed’s minutes suggest a lull at the end of the year after the first rate hikes. There is also evidence that the US economy is slowing, which will make the Fed less aggressive than the market has discounted.”
“FPI sales, the main driver of market weakness in India, are showing signs of exhaustion. DII and retail purchases and overwhelming FPI sales along with short cover could trigger a rally in the near term. High-quality large caps could rally Leading banks are safe bets,” he added.
Global clues
Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday after an optimistic outlook for retail earnings and easing concerns about over-aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve sent investors into a buying mood. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 516.91 points, or 1.61 percent, to 32,637.19; the S&P 500 gained 79.11 points, or 1.99 percent, to 4,057.84; and the Nasdaq Composite added 305.91 points, or 2.68 percent, to 11,740.65.
Tokyo stocks opened higher Friday as investors take heart from Wall Street’s rallies. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.29 percent or 343.67 points to 26,948.51 in early trading, while the broader Topix index rose 1.06 percent or 19.95 points to 1,897.53. Overnight US economic indicators were not strong, including downward revised first-quarter GDP figures and a decline in second-hand home sales in April.
Hong Kong shares rose more than three percent Friday morning on the back of a wave of tech companies following strong earnings giants Alibaba and Baidu. The Hang Seng index climbed 3.09 percent, or 621.07 points, to 20,737.27 points.
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