Equity Benchmarks End In Green As Bulls Take Control On First Day Of FY23
D-street bulls nudged benchmark indices higher on the first day of the financial year. The momentum was guided by progress on peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and a dip in oil prices on account of President Biden announcing record oil release from emergency reserves.
Investor sentiment on Friday was also supported by news that India's richest state Maharashtra - home to the country's financial capital Mumbai - was lifting its mask mandate after a steep fall in COVID-19 cases and deaths.
The 30-share pack Sensex gained 708.18 points to close at 59,276.69. Its broader peer NSE Nifty gained 205.70 points or 1.18 per cent, to settle near the 17,700 mark.
"Investors cheered the strong GST numbers for March while reports about Russia started pulling out some troops from the Ukraine capital also aided the sentiment," said Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities.
All the sectoral indices ended in green led by financial and oil and gas stocks. Sensex reclaimed the 59,000 level for the first time since 10 February and Nifty closed at highest since Feb 2.
"Both indices have gained in four out of five trading sessions and have managed to log their second best week in seven months," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.
The Nifty Energy index rose 2.5 per cent to a record high.
India's largest private lender HDFC Bank and heavyweight mortgage lender HDFC Ltd climbed around 2.5 per cent each. The Nifty Bank index closed 2.1 per cent higher.
The Nifty Auto index was up 1.2 per cent as investors assessed monthly sales reports from automakers.
"Traders may prefer to take cautious stance near the 17800 resistance level due to the market being in an overbought situation. The current texture is likely to continue unless the index slips below 17450 or 10 day SMA. Above the same, we could see Nifty touching the level of 17800 and further upside could lift the index up to 17935," said Athawale.
(With inputs from Reuters)
