Sensex finishes FY23 in style, settles 1,031 pts higher; Nifty tops 17,350; Sonata Software, BCG & RIL rise up to 11%

Indian equity benchmarks closed the final trading day of financial year 2022-23 (FY23) on a higher note, led by gains in technology, banks, energy and financials. The domestic indices climbed today in line with the global markets. Asian shares settled higher, posting decent gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex pack jumped 1,031 points or 1.78 per cent to close at 58,992; while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 279 points or 1.63 per cent higher to settle at 17,360. Mid and smallcap shares finished on a strong note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 up 0.87 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 1.61 per cent. Fear index India VIX dived 5.08 per cent to 12.94.

Buying interest in select index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) lifted the indices higher.

All the 15 sectoral indices on NSE settled in the green. Nifty IT, Nifty Bank, Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty Financial Services outperformed the index by rising 2.45 per cent, 1.75 per cent, 1.74 per cent and 1.49 per cent, respectively.

"As the financial year drew to a close, the market witnessed an upward trend marked by bullish moves in the banking and IT sectors driven by robust global cues. Notably, increased interest from foreign institutional investors due to the moderation in Indian stock valuations also aided. While the US market awaits the release of personal consumption expenditures data, which is considered a crucial indicator for forecasting the Federal Reserve's future actions, domestic investors await the RBI MPC meeting scheduled next week," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Domestic stocks also got a boost from global brokerage Morgan Stanley which upgraded India's rating to "equal weight" from "under weight," citing resilience in the economy and favourable market valuations.

Reliance climbed 4.29 per cent to settle at Rs 2,331.05 after starting the process of demerger of its financial services business.

Sonata Software, Brightcom Group, Easy Trip Planners, HLE Glascoat, Hatsun Agro Product, Macrotech Developers and Bharat Electronics zoomed up to 11.34 per cent.

Trident, Granules India, PNB Housing Finance, Hitachi Energy India, Balrampur Chini Mills and Mahindra Lifespace Developers settled up to 6.40 per cent higher; while Eureka Forbes and Tata Teleservices soared up to 5.25 per cent. Praj Industries and Union Bank rose up to 7.83 per cent. Adani Power and Adani Wilmar jumped 5 per cent, each.

On the flip side, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy slipped 5.18 per cent today. Bajaj Electricals, Kalyan Jewellers, Torrent Power, Oil India, NHPC, The Phoenix Mills, Nykaa and Vedanta fell up to 4.62 per cent. Also, Bank of India, CSB Bank and Godfrey Phillips India declined up to 2.41 per cent.

Out of a total of 3,678 stocks that traded during the day, 2,393 settled with gains while 1,165 others ended lower. The rest 120 stocks stayed unchanged.

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