Sensex rises 75 points, Nifty settles above 17,750; RVNL rises 19%; IPCA Labs tanks 10%

After a volatile trading session, domestic benchmark indices defied the negative global cues and were able to hold gains on Tuesday and settled in green for the straight fourth session. Buying in select index heavyweights stocks and sectors pushed the markets higher.

Traders were on the tenterhooks ahead of corporate earnings of US mega-caps and banking counters amid the rising concerns of macroeconomic health. Also, the rate hike pathway is keenly tracked ahead of the US monetary policy meeting scheduled next week.

For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex added 74.61 points, or 0.12 per cent, to close at 60,130.71, while NSE's Nifty50 gained 25.85 points, or 0.15 per cent, to settle at 17,769.25. Broader markets were mixed as BSE midcap index ended almost unchanged, while BSE smallcap index was slightly up. Fear gauge India VIX dropped over a per cent to 11.52-level.

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, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

"On daily charts, the Nifty has formed a small Doji candlestick formation which indicates indecisiveness between the bulls and bears. A minor intraday correction is possible, if the index slips below 17,720 and retests the level of 17,670-17,625. On the flip side, a fresh uptrend wave is possible only after the dismissal of 17,820. Post breakout the chances of the index hitting 17,900-17,925 would turn bright," he said.

Sectoral trends were mixed on the NSE. Nifty PSU Bank index rose more than a per cent, followed by Oil & Gas and Metal indices. On the down side, Nifty Consumer Durable index shed over a per cent, followed by Nifty Media index. Nifty Financial Services and IT indices were also among the top laggards.

On the Nifty50 pack, Adani Enterprises surged about 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, which will announce its earnings on Wednesday. Britannia Industries, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and Bharti Airtel rose 2 per cent, each. Divis Labs, ICICI Bank, Cipla and Reliance were other top gainers on the index.

Among the losers, HDFC Life Insurance Company tanked over 3 per cent on the back of profit booking. UPL dropped 2 per cent, followed by selling pressure in HDFC twins - namely HDFC Bank and HDFC. Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank also settled a per cent lower.

The domestic market succeeded in holding the gains, though multiple attempts were made by bears to reverse the trend considering the weak global market, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"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 May 3," he said.

A total of 3,649 shares were traded on BSE on Tuesday, of which 1,889 settled in green. 1,637 stocks ended the session with cuts, while 123 hares remained unchanged. A total of 208 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 137 tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, Rail Vikas Nigam continued its northward rally and surged another 19 per cent. DB Realty and Lloyds Steels Industries gained 15 per cent each, whereas JSW Holdings jumped 13 per cent for the day. Nelco gained 12 per cent after Q4 earnings, while Patel Engineering gained over 9 per cent.

On the other hand, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals tanked 12 per cent after its CEO resigned from his post. Pennar Industries also plunged 12 per cent. IPCA Labs declined over 10 per cent as the company acquired a 33.38 per cent stake in Unichem Laboratories for Rs 1,034.06 crore. Atul Auto also declined 10 per cent for the day.

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