Equities rise as IMD forecast lifts sentiments

Mumbai, April 17: Forecast of a normal monsoon, along with expectations of upbeat quarterly corporate earnings led the Indian equity markets to register gains for the ninth straight session on Tuesday.

However, after the initial “gap-up” opening the session was marred with volatility due to weak global cues and rising crude oil prices.

Index-wise, the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 10,548.70 points, up 20.35 points or 0.19 per cent from the previous close.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensex of the BSE, which opened at 34,381.80 points, settled at 34,395.06 points — up 89.63 points or 0.26 per cent from its previous session’s close.

The Sensex touched a high of 34,434.14 points and a low of 34,229.83 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,396 advances and 1,251 declines. The market breadth was also bullish on the NSE.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed higher by 0.28 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.28 per cent.

“It was the ninth consecutive session of gains for the Nifty and came on the back of a normal monsoon being predicted by the India Meteorological

Department (IMD),” Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC securities told IANS.

On Monday, the IMD announced that India is set to get a normal south-west monsoon this year, with average rainfall likely to be 97 per cent.

According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, “Sensex and Nifty continued the upward trend... as investor turned their focus to corporate earnings from geopolitical tension.”

On the currency front, the Indian rupee weakened by 15 paise to 65.65 against the US dollar from its previous close at 65.50.

In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 951.39 crore, while the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 723.81 crore.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE consumer durables index rose by 240.19 points, followed by FMCG index which gained 112.63 points and capital goods index which edged up by 67.15 points.

On the other hand, the S&P BSE auto index fell by 59.84 points, IT index by 47.87 points and capital goods index by 36.81 points.

In another development, Mahindra and Mahindra’s market capitalisation crossed the Rs 100,000 crore mark on Tuesday. On closing, its m-cap stood at Rs 100,648 crore and its shares hit a 52-week high of Rs 819.10 per share.

Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Power Grid, up 2.94 per cent at Rs 204.90; NTPC, up 1.99 per cent at Rs 177.15; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.83 per cent at Rs 1,445.75; ICICI Bank, up 1.50 per cent at Rs 291.70; and ITC, up 1.23 per cent at Rs 267.75 per share.

The top Sensex losers were: Axis Bank, down 1.78 per cent at Rs 532.55; Wipro, down 1.53 per cent at Rs 285.50; Adani Ports, down 1.28 per cent at Rs 382.85; Sun Pharma, down 1.27 per cent at Rs 513.05; and Maruti Suzuki, down 0.80 per cent at Rs 9,158.25. (IANS)