Sensex Sprints Over 1000 pts, Nifty Above 16,100 Amid Strength in Asian Markets; Tata Steel Rises 3%

After cracking 2.6 per cent each the previous day, the Sensex and Nifty started Friday’s session on an upbeat note amid strength in Asian markets and US equity futures. At 09:16 IST, the Sensex was up 773.08 points or 1.46 per cent at 53565.31, and the Nifty was up 240.40 points or 1.52 per cent at 16049.80. Overall about 1547 shares have advanced, 257 shares declined, and 64 shares are unchanged.

All Sensex shares opened higher, led by gains in Tata Steel, SBI, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Titan, HUL and L&T, up 1.7-3 per cent. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were in the positive territory, rising up to 1.7 per cent.

All sectors were firmly higher with Metals, Auto, Energy, Pharma, Media and Realty indices on Nifty gaining 2-3 per cent. Nifty Bank, Financials and IT also rose around 2 per cent each.

Among stocks, Godrej Consumer slipped over 2 per cent. The company reported a 1 per cent YoY fall in net profit for March quarter to Rs 363 crore as a slowdown in consumption and high commodity inflation weighed.

Equitas Small Finance Bank fell 6 per cent after the company’s managing director and chief executive officer P N Vasudevan announced his departure. Vasudevan said he would continue in his post till the succession and transition process is completed.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “The excessive volatility in the market is broadly due to two reasons. One, the market has discounted severe monetary tightening by the Fed which is likely to take the Fed funds rate to around 3 per cent in 2023. Two, the market has not fully discounted the probability of the US economy slipping into recession in 2023. Till there is clarity on the second issue, the ‘risk-off, risk-on mode’ in the market is likely to continue in the near-term.”

“It may take a few weeks for the markets to stabilize. It is important to appreciate the fact that the dominant feature of this market is bearish in the short-term. Nasdaq is 30 per cent down from the peak and S&P 500 is 19 per cent down from the peak. These are reflections of weakness in the market. In India, FIIs are likely to continue selling since India is the only emerging market where they are sitting on good profits and the market provides the liquidity to sell,” stated Vijayakumar.

Global Cues

Stocks ended another volatile day lower on Wall Street Thursday, bringing the market closer to its first bear market since the beginning of the pandemic. US Stocks settled lower, with Cisco Systems slumping after giving a dismal outlook, while investors fretted about inflation and rising interest rates. Dow Jones dropped 0.75 per cent to 31,253.13. S&P500 declined 0.58 per cent to 3,900.79. Nasdaq fell 0.26 per cent to 11,388.50.

Asian stocks opened higher on Friday despite falls on Wall Street as bargain-hunting purchases offset some risk-off sentiment among investors. MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up by 1.32 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.01 per cent. Australia’s ASX 200 climbed 1.23 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.52 per cent. China’s Shanghai added 0.98 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied 2.31 per cent.

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