Sensex, Nifty rise ahead of RBI policy outcome; Adani stocks gain up to 10%, Paytm surges 7%

Domestic equity Indices opened higher on Wednesday, tracking the firm global cues after dovish comments from Jerome Powell, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve. However, headline peers traded with some caution, ahead of RBI's monetary policy outcome later in the day.

All eyes will be on RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das as the market experts are expecting a 25 basis points hike in the policy rates. For the bulls, less-hawkish Powell boosted the confidence of the traders.

At 9.20 am, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex was trading 220.75 points, or 0.37 per cent higher at 60,506.79. NSE's Nifty50 gained 76.20 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 17,797.70. Broader markets rose in tandem as BSE midcap and smallcap indices added one-third a per cent each. Fear gauge India VIX dropped over a per cent to 13.93-mark.

Both momentum indicators are advocating strength to persist from the lower levels; stochastic continues to trend higher and RSI still trading above its 9 EMA’s line while bouncing back from its oversold zone, said Yes Securities in its morning note.

'In the coming sessions, the trend is likely to be sideways or positive. We expect the index to hold key support of 17,650 followed by 17,550 levels where dips can be utilized for creating a long position. Fresh upside momentum is expected above 17,900-18,000 zones from where it can extend up to 18,200 levels," it said.

On a sectoral front, Nifty metal index rose 2 per cent, whereas IT index was up a per cent. Financial Services, PSU Bank and media index also posted decent gains. However, auto and realty indices led the losers, followed by pharma counters.

Among the Adani Group counters, Adani Enterprises hit an upper circuit of 10 per cent, whereas Adani Ports soared another 6 per cent. Adani Wilmar and Adani Transmission hit an upper circuit of 5 per cent each, whereas Adani Total Gas posted similar cuts. Adani Green Energy and Adani Power were also trading higher in the early trade.

Barring the Adani Group stocks, Ultratech Cement rose about 3 per cent amid the GST rate cut possibilities on the cement sector. Hindalco and SBI Life rose 2 per cent each. Bajaj Finance, Tata Consumer Products and Divis Labs were among the other top gainers.

Losers were led by Bharti Airtel, which dropped 2 per cent after a mixed bag in December 2022 quarter. Auto stocks including Eicher Motors, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors were also down a per cent each.

The important trends impacting markets globally are the developments in the US economy and rate action by the Fed. Fed chief Powell’s remarks yesterday were taken positively by the market. His comment that the 'disinflationary process will take a bit of time' is taken as confirmation of the disinflationary process underway, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Also, the fact that the disinflationary process is happening even while the economy is creating a record number of jobs is regarded as positive. The unabated FII selling - Rs 7,774 crores in the last 3 sessions- is the biggest drag on the market now. In this context traders will also use rallies to sell," he said.

In the broader markets, Wonderla Holidays and CreditAccess Grameen surged 9 per cent each, whereas 63 Moons Technologies and Supriya Life Sciences gained 7 per cent each. Paytm jumped 7 per cent after strong Q3 numbers, whereas Zomato gained 7 per cent ahead of its earnings on Thursday.

Centum Electronics plunged 9 per cent after disappointing Q3 performance, while Yasho Industries was down 6 per cent. Mangalam Industries, Bharat Dynamics, Barbeque Nation and Astral were down 4-5 per cent each in the early trading hours.
 

 

 

 

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