Sensex, Nifty hit fresh record highs on gains in index heavyweights

From the sectoral space, energy, realty and metals gained the most. Out of the 15 Nifty sectoral indices, 12 were trading in the green. The Nifty Oli & Gas and Nifty Realty gained over 1% around this time. Auto and IT sectoral also witnessed buying action. Banks felt the heat, especially public sector banks. Nifty Bank was trading 0.09% lower at 48,448.

Expert Take
Analyst V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, warned investors regarding the fast-changing macroeconomic expectations. "This year began with market expectations of seven rate cuts by the Fed in 2024. Then it came down to three and now many believe that the Fed may cut only twice this year. The strength of the US economy and labour market has surprised the majority of experts and market participants. Despite the scaling down of rate cut expectations the mother market continues to be buoyant, setting new records. This will provide the global support for equity markets like India," Vijaykumar said.

As the Q4 results season kickstarts with the announcement of TCS earnings on April 12, market movement would depend upon the commentary by IT companies, he said, adding that he expects results to remain tepid for this pack. As for financials, the Geojit analyst expects good results that could push up Bank Nifty higher led by banking majors like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

Small finance banking segment will do well along with capital goods and autos while FMCG will be on a weaker wicket weighed down by poor volume growth, Vijayakumar said.

Stocks in news
Wipro was among the top Nifty losers and fell 1% to hit the day's low of Rs 479.20 on the NSE after Thierry Delaporte resigned as the Chief Executive Officer of India's fourth-largest IT services company.

Meanwhile, Tata Group stock saw its shares jump by 11% after the AC brand reported a landmark sale of 2 million AC units in FY 2023-24. The stock hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,392.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee gained in early trading on Monday, continuing its upside momentum from the previous session, even though US bond yields jumped as investors pared bets on a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in June, Reuters reported. The rupee was at 83.26 to the dollar as of 9:45 a.m. IST, up slightly from 83.29 in the previous session, when the rupee rose nearly 0.2%, recovering from Thursday's record low of 83.45.

Broad-based dollar sales from local and foreign banks helped the rupee on Monday, the report said quoting a foreign exchange trader at a state-run bank said.

Crude Oil
Crude oil prices were trading lower on Monday with US WTI oil contracts trading at $85.580, down by $1.330 or 1.530% while Brent oil futures were hovering near $89.720, down by $0.620 or 1.590%. The prices eased after there was some let-off in the Middle East tensions.

On the MCX, the April Crude Oil futures were trading at Rs 7,128 per BBL, down by Rs 156 or 2.14%.

FII/DII Tracker
Domestic investors turned net sellers on Friday while the foreign investors emerged as net buyers. While foreign institutional bought Indian equities worth Rs 1,659.27, the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold stocks worth Rs 3,370.42 crore.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)