Sensex, Nifty set to rise for 6th session in a row led by gains in Tech Mahindra

emerged as the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 10% after the firm's Q4 net profit jumped 29.51% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 661 crore. Joining the upward trend were - , , , , and HDFC Bank, which also opened higher.

Conversely, , , M&M, , and opened lower, tempering early market sentiment.

Bajaj Finance fell over 6% in early trade despite the NBFC firm posted higher-than-expected quarterly profits.

On the sectoral front, IT rose 1.7%, led by Tech Mahindra, , and LTIMindtree. Additionally, sectors like Nifty Media, Metal, Pharma, PSU Bank, and Consumer Durables also experienced significant surges. In the broader market, both smallcap100 and midcap100 indices climbed over 0.5% each.

Experts View
"Data from the US reflects weakening of the US economy. Q1 GDP growth has come lower than expected at 1.6% but the Fed is unlikely to cut rates in the next couple of meetings since inflation continues to remain hot," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, .

The buy on dips strategy has worked well in this bull market and investors can continue to use this strategy, Vijayakumar said.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 22,500 followed by 22,450 and 22,400. On the higher side, 22,650 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 22,700 and 22,800."

Global Markets
Asian shares rose cautiously on Friday as markets sobered up to the idea that U.S. rate cuts were most likely some time away.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.27%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell more than 1%. Japan's Nikkei edged a marginal 0.02% higher.

U.S. stock futures jumped after tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street estimates. Nasdaq futures advanced more than 1%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.7%.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Rs 2,823.33 crore shares, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) pumped in Rs 6,167.56 crore on April 25, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Crude Oil
Oil prices rose on Friday, on track to end higher this week after two straight weeks of losses after a top U.S. official expressed optimism over economic growth and as supply concerns lingered due to conflicts in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures gained 31 cents, or 0.4%, to $89.32 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.80 a barrel. For the week, Brent has gained 2.3% so far, while WTI is up 0.8%.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee fell 5 paise to 83.33 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, increased 0.07% to 105.67 level.

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