Sensex, Nifty rise for 4th day; focus on key earnings this week

From the Sensex pack, and were the top gainers, rising 4% and 2.7%, respectively. , , , , and also ended with gains, while , , , and closed with cuts.

Nifty Metal index appreciated 2.7% as global prices rebounded from a fall in the previous session. Heavyweight banking and financials rose 0.5%.

Among individual stocks, fell 5.4% after its March quarter consolidated net profit fell 19% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 217 crore.

shares also closed 5% lower after the company reported smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as discretionary spending remained low, and weak demand in the media and communications vertical weighed.

The market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE surged by Rs 1.68 lakh crore to Rs 401.32 lakh crore. The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the bulls. About 2,256 stocks gained, 1,562 declined, and 111 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Expert Views

"Indian markets lagged the Asian peers as Q4 earnings remained largely subdued with weak results from IT and a few index heavyweights results also disappointed. However, buoyed by strong manufacturing and service sectors, the Indian composite PMI hit a multi-year high, reflecting domestic resilience bringing some buoyancy in the broad market," said Vinod Nair, head of research, .

Rahul Ghose, founder & CEO of Hedged.in, said, "Nifty's range for tomorrow is likely to be 22,350-22,550, considering max pain at 22,400 for April monthly expiry. For the May series, the 1st May Fed meet will decide the trajectory as current options writing data shows equal calls and puts being written. Further, there is a resistance for the Nifty Index at 22,650 which is where the current up move should take a pause."

Global Markets

World stocks rose on Wednesday led by tech names as investors' focus shifts to earnings from US megacap bellwethers this week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 1.6% higher, having climbed 1% on Tuesday, as stocks rebounded from last week's steep selloff. Europe's broad STOXX 600 was 0.2% higher. Nasdaq futures were up 0.6%.

Crude Oil

Oil prices steadied above $88 a barrel on Wednesday after rallying in the previous session on a surprise fall in US crude stocks and a drop in business activity in the world's largest oil consumer.

Brent crude futures fell 24 cents, or 0.27%, to $88.18 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 33 cents, or 0.4%, to $83.03 a barrel.

Currency Watch

The Indian rupee ended slightly higher on Wednesday as dollar demand from local oil companies and importers ate into the local currency's early gains, while an uptick in the dollar index also weighed.

The rupee closed at 83.3225 against the US dollar, moderately higher than its close of 83.3425 in the previous session. The dollar index was up about 0.2% at 105.8, trimming its losses from Tuesday.


(With inputs from agencies)