BENCHMARKS TRADE HIGHER; EUROPEAN MKT OPENS HIGHER

The frontline indices traded with substantial gains in afternoon trade. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, attained record high levels in morning trade. The Nifty hovered above the 22,450 mark. All the sectoral indices on the NSE were in the green with realty, media, and metal shares gaining the most.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 383.89 points or 0.53% to 74,038.76. The Nifty 50 index rose 144.95 points or 0.65% to 22,471.85

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 74,254.62 and 22,529.95, respectively in morning trade.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.47% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 2.64%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,133 shares rose and 681 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s forex reserves rose $140 million during the week ended March 22 to touch its all-time high of $642.631 billion, according to the latest RBI data. This is the fifth consecutive week of a jump in the overall reserves.

For the week ended March 22, the foreign currency assets decreased by $123 million to $568.264 billion. Gold reserves rose $347 million to $51.487 billion during the week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $57 million to $18.219 billion, the RBI said.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $27 million to $4.662 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.

Meanwhile, the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 6.7% (provisional) in February 2024 as compared to the Index of February 2023. The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for November 2023 is revised to 7.9%. The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to February, 2023-24 is 7.7% (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Gainers & Losers:

JSW Steel (up 4.83%), Tata Steel (up 4.62%), Shriram Finance (up 2.59%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 2.36%), and Divi`s Laboratories (up 2.17%) were major Nifty gainers.

Eicher Motors (down 2%), Titan Company (down 1.57%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.46%), LTI Mindtree (down 1.32%) and Nestle India (down 1.27%) were major Nifty losers.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) advanced 2.36% after the company recorded highest cargo volumes of around 38 million metric tons (MMT) in March 2024.

JSW Steel rallied 4.83% after the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, JSW Vijayanagar Metallics has commissioned a hot strip mill at its integrated steel plant at Vijayanagar.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Infosys rose 0.26%. The company said that it is expecting a refund of Rs 6,329 crore from the Income Tax Department, Government of India for assessment years 2007-08 to 15-16, 17-18 & 18-19 during the quarter. Additionally, the company has also received the assessment orders from the Income Tax Department, Government of India for subsidiaries of the company, totalling to Rs 277 crore.

Torrent Power jumped 4.79% after the company received letter of award from its distribution unit for setting up of 150 MW (RE Power) grid-connected wind solar hybrid projects under Greenshoe option worth Rs 1,825 crore.

Escorts Kubota added 2.32% after said that the company�s Agri Machinery Business has sold 8,587 tractors in March 2024, which is lower by 16.7% as compared with sales of 10,305 tractors recorded in March 2023.

G.M. Breweries surged 12.47% after said that the company�s board will meet Thursday, 04 April 2024, to consider a proposal for issue of bonus shares by way of capitalization of reserves, subject to approval from members of the company.

Man Industries (India) was locked in an upper circuit of 5% at 377.05 after the firm said that its board has appointed Sanjay Kumar Agrawal as the chief financial officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel of the company effective from 1 April 2024.

Prestige Estates Projects surged 7% after the company through its subsidiaries, has entered into landmark deal with (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) ADIA and Kotak AIF for Rs 2,001 crore ($240 Million).

EIH surged 5.94% after its board approved the construction of an Oberoi Luxury Resort at Cavelossim Beach in South Goa with an investment of Rs 421 crore.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) gained 3.46% after the civil construction firm said that it has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for a project awarded by South Eastern Railway to upgrade electric traction system for Rs 148.26 crore.

Biocon rose 2.59% after the company has received an approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), U.K., for its complex formulation Liraglutide (gSaxenda).

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced while Asian stocks traded mixed on Monday as US inflation figures reaffirmed bets for the Federal Reserve to ease policy this year and China�s economic recovery gained momentum. Australian and Hong Kong markets are closed for Easter Monday.

China�s National Bureau of Statistics data showed that manufacturing activity expanded in March, with the purchasing managers index registering a reading of 50.8, compared to February�s reading of 49.1.

U.S. markets remained closed on Friday in observance of Good Friday. The core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.3% in February after climbing in the previous month, marking its biggest back-to-back gain in a year. The measure is up 2.8% from a year earlier.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday the central bank�s preferred gauge of inflation was �pretty much in line with our expectations.� Powell added that it wouldn�t be appropriate to lower rates until officials are sure inflation is in check. Investors are betting the US central bank will make that first cut in June, as per reports.

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