Sensex crosses 62,000 mark for the first time since December; Tata Motors, L&T amongst top gainers

• Benchmark index Sensex crossed the 62,000 points mark for the first time since December last year.
  
• Tata Motors, L&T, Asian Paints were amongst the top gainers in morning trade on Tuesday.
  
• Overall, financial services, auto and FMCG stocks, helped Sensex begin FY24 on a positive note with gains of 3.52% in the last one month.
  
• Robust buying by foreign institutional investors (FII) in April and May till date have also aided the rally in Sensex and Nifty.
  

India’s benchmark index Sensex crossed the 62,000 points mark for the first time since December last year, led by gains in Tata Motors, L&T and Asian Paints, among others.

Overall, financial services, auto and FMCG stocks, helped Sensex begin FY24 on a positive note with gains of 3.52% in the last one month.


Source: BSE, as on May 9, 2023

Amongst the top gainers in the last one month are Bajaj Finance, Nestle India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors and ITC, with 1 month returns ranging between 11% to 15%.
Robust buying by foreign institutional investors (FII) in April and May till date have aided the rally in Sensex and Nifty. While FIIs bought equities worth ₹5,712 crore in April, their buying in May stands at ₹7,652 crore till date.

“There are three prominent factors which are driving the ongoing rally in the market: One, better-than-expected strength of the US economy and the increasing confidence that the US will succeed in avoiding a bad recession. Two, strong buying by FIIs who have been continuous buyers during the last eight trading days. Three, fundamental support to the rally from macro indicators such as robust GST collections, improving PMI, high fuel consumption and good credit growth,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

However, the current rally might not last for long, according to analysts.

“These positives along with a rising rupee can sustain the rally and take the market higher. But the valuation comfort which was there at the beginning of this rally a month ago is no longer there. This can cap the upside to the market even though the momentum is currently with the bulls,” Vijayakumar added.
Gold prices edged up to ₹60,900 per 10 grams while silver stood at ₹77,100 per kilogram. Crude oil prices gained as well, with Brent crude prices hovering at $76.8 per barrel.

Global cues mixed

Cues in global markets were mixed, with investors focusing on the US banking sector. While Dow Jones closed 0.17% lower, S&P 500 ended on a flat note. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, on the other hand, gained 0.18%.

Asian markets were also similarly mixed, with Taiwan Weighted remaining flat. Nikkei 225 was up 0.77%, while Shanghai Composite gained 0.36%. On the other hand, Hang Seng was down 0.4% while KOSPI fell 0.5%.

Stocks to watch

Mankind Pharma: Shares of the condom maker’s ₹4,362 crore IPO will debut on exchanges today. The grey market premium of the company’s stock stood at ₹100 indicating a strong listing gain.

SpiceJet: The low cost carrier has received a notice from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as the Ireland based company Aircastle is looking to begin insolvency proceedings against it.

PNB Housing Finance: Punjab National Bank has infused ₹498 crore in the rights issue of PNB Housing Finance.

UPL: Agriculture solutions provider UPL reported 42% decline in net profit at ₹792 crore for March quarter from ₹1,379 crore last year. Meanwhile, revenue grew 4% to ₹16,569 crore from ₹15,861 crore last year.

Kansai Nerolac: The company’s board has approved bonus issue in the ratio 1:2. With this, the authorised share capital will increase from ₹66.5 crore to ₹85 crore.

Earnings today: Lupin, Nazara Technologies, Reliance Infrastructure, Matrimony.com, Apollo Tyres, Birla Corporation, Castrol India, Chalet Hotels, Nuvoco Vistas Corporation, Eveready Industries India, Godrej Agrovet, SRF and Westlife Foodworld among companies to release their March quarter earnings today.

SEE ALSO:

FY23 Scorecard: TVS Motor fares better than Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp on profits and margins

From ₹68 to ₹140, this multibagger stock marks a strong journey in 2023