Sensex, Nifty50 close marginally higher after a choppy session; PSU banks on a rise

• India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 closed marginally higher after a choppy session on Tuesday amid mixed global sentiments.
• PSU bank, energy and metal stocks were on the rise, while IT and media stocks declined.
• Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Finance, Britannia Industries, Bajaj Finserv and Bharti Airtel were amongst the top gainers on Nifty50.

India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 closed marginally higher after a choppy session on Tuesday amid mixed global sentiments. PSU bank, energy and metal stocks were on the rise, while IT and media stocks declined.

The 30-stock Sensex was up 0.12% or 74 points to 60,130, while the 50-stock Nifty50 was up 0.15% or 25.85 points to 17,769.

“Cautious optimism prevailed as sluggish to negative global markets' sentiment prompted traders to take selective bets in metals, oil & gas, and financial stocks. The bigger concern is that the rate hike cycle in the US and European nations is likely to continue, which may further push key economies into a slowdown phase and hurt growth,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities said.

Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Finance, Britannia Industries, Bajaj Finserv and Bharti Airtel were amongst the top gainers on Nifty50. Meanwhile HDFC Life, UPL, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Tech Mahindra were amongst the top losers.

Among Nifty500, Rail Vikas Nigam surged exceptionally higher by 20% on Tuesday and 37% in the last two days. The stock has been on a rise since March when a consortium of Russia's CJSC Transmashholding and Rail Vikas Nigam emerged as the lowest bidder for the ₹58,000-crore contract to manufacture and maintain 200 trainsets at ₹120 crore per unit.

Top gainers and losers on Nifty500
Source: NSE, as on April 25, 2023

Besides, investors are awaiting the US Fed monetary policy outcome next week that would provide some direction to the market.

“The domestic market succeeded in holding the gains, though multiple attempts were made by bears to reverse the trend considering the weak global market. Investors are highly nervous as they await the release of US GDP and PCE inflation data, which will guide the upcoming Fed action. The Fed is expected to raise their rates by another 25bps in its announcement on 3rd May,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Earlier on Monday, both the benchmark indices rose 0.7% after initial hiccups, with Sensex above the 60,000 level once again while Nifty50 closed at 17,743 points.

Gold and silver prices edged up a tad on Monday, as did crude oil prices amid a weaker dollar and improving demand sentiments ahead of holiday travel season in China.

Global markets mixed
Markets remained mixed globally as investors awaited key earnings to trickle in. While the Dow Jones rose 0.2%, S&P 500 was higher by 0.09%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.29%.

European markets, on the other hand, fell on Monday with DAX declining 0.16% and FTSE ending 0.31% lower.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, with Nikkei 225 rising 0.09%. On the other hand, Hang Seng fell 1.71%, Taiwan Weighted fell 1.64%, KOSPI fell 1.37%, while Shanghai Composite declined 0.32%.

SEE ALSO:

ICICI Bank vs HDFC Bank: How India’s top two private lenders have performed in Q4

Flex operators lease as much office space as tech cos in Jan-March quarter