Share Market updates: Sensex rises 412 points, Nifty ends above 17,750; ITC, Dr Reddy's, M&M top gainers

Good afternoon!

Indian equity market fell for the third straight session on Thursday, tracking heavy losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, TCS and Reliance Industries amid weak global cues. Sensex slumped 575.46 points to end at 59,034 and Nifty declined 168.10 points to 17,639.55.

The Indian equity market is likely to open flat ahead of RBI policy meet outcome.

Here are all the latest updates.

3:12 pm: Market update

Sensex ended 412 points higher at 59,447 and Nifty rose 144 points to 17,784.

3:12 pm: Market update

 

Sensex was trading 357 points higher at 59,391 and Nifty rose 128 points to 17,767 in the afternoon session.

3:08 pm: Expert quote on RBI policy

Ravi Subramanian, MD & CEO, Shriram Housing Finance said,"The MPC decision on key policy rates and maintaining the ‘accommodative’ stance were in line with expectations, even as the RBI hinted at gradual withdrawal of pandemic-focussed liquidity measures. The revision in inflation and growth estimates for FY23 reflect the challenges posed by geo-political tensions and uncertainty clouding global commodity and crude oil prices. We expect the central bank to move towards policy normalisation and hike the repo rate in the second half of the financial year."

2:30 pm: Expert quote on RBI policy

Abhay Agarwal, Founder, and Fund Manager, Piper Serica said, "The RBI has chosen to support growth over inflation by keeping the rates at the same level. We believe it is a sensible choice because for India to attract foreign capital it will have to focus on generating growth. It has tried its best to balance the sharp increase in inflation forecast and a lower GDP growth forecast.

We believe that RBI does not want to signal a series of rate hikes that will increase the cost of borrowing and negatively impact the nascent recovery in consumer sentiment, manufacturing, and rural income. The hope is that with supply bottlenecks easing the inflation will trend down."

2:10 pm: Market update

Sensex rises 571 points to 59,606 and Nifty climbs 193 points to 17,832.

2:06 pm: Sensex Gainers

ITC, M&M, Tata Steel and Titan Company are the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 2.90% in the afternoon session.

1:45 pm:  Expert Take

Yash Gupta- Equity Research Analyst, Angel One said, "The Reserve Bank of India announced that the central bank has decided to keep rates unchanged, repo rates will be kept at 4% along with this reverse repo rate unchanged at 3.35%. This is positive news for the real-estate companies as there will not be any hike in home loan rates. Currently, home loan rates are in between 6.5%-7%. This is one of the lowest home loan rates in history."

1:12 pm: Market update

 Sensex rises 237 points to 59,271 and Nifty climbs 83 points to 17,723.

12:59 pm: Expert comment on RBI policy

Niraj Kumar, CIO, Future Generali India Life Insurance said, "MPC has delivered a well telegraphed and pragmatic policy given the backdrop of global inflation growth conundrum that we are posed with and is well preparing the markets for further course of normalization in coming months. The policy has a hawkish tilt shifting gears from its earlier 'Dovish' tone. This is well exemplified with change in MPC's rhetoric with focus on withdrawal of accommodative stance, effectively normalizing to pre-pandemic policy rate corridor through new liquidity measure of Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), inflation forecasts being nudged higher to 5.7% & lowering growth forecasts to 7.2%. The extension of HTM limits from 22% to 23% until FY23 is indeed a welcome move from the standpoint of absorption of borrowings by banks. Overall a well- balanced policy given the fear of rising inflation led by global supply disruption, Russia -Ukraine standoff and challenging geo political environment."

12:54 PM: Expert Comment on RBI's MPC Meeting

Siraj Saiyed, Director, Arete Group said, "With RBI maintaining the status quo, banks most likely will not increase interest rates on loans in immediate future. This is a sign of relief for home loan borrowers as the rates will continue at the lowest levels in the last two decades. A low home loan interest rate regime has been greatly instrumental in further stimulating India's real estate sector eventually increasing investment and home-buying in the last couple of years."

12:47 PM: Abu Dhabi-based IHC to invest Rs 15,400 cr in three Adani companies

Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate International Holding Company will invest $2 billion or Rs 15,400 crore in three of Adani Group's green-focused companies - Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL) and Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL). All the three companies are listed on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

IHC will invest Rs 3,850 crore in AGEL, Rs 3,850 crore in ATL and Rs 7,700 crore in AEL. The transactions are expected to be completed within a month. The capital will be used to pursue growth of the companies as well as to strengthen the balance sheet and general corporate purposes, Adani Group said.

12:34: This Jhunjhunwala stock stares at a strong upmove, time to buy?

Tata Communications stock rose over 5% amid a flat move for the broader indices in early trade today. Tata Communications climbed 5.64% to Rs 1,401 against the previous close of Rs 1326.25 on BSE. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala invested in the company through his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala. As per the shareholding pattern of Tata Communications for the quarter ended December 2022, Rekha Jhunjhunwala owned 30,75,687 shares or a 1.08 per cent stake in the company. READ MORE

12:15 pm: Market check

Sensex was trading 150 points higher at 59,185 and Nifty was up 56 points to 17,696. 

M&M and Tata Steel were the top gainers on Sensex, followed by Ultratech Cement, ITC, Dr Reddy's and RIL.

11:30 am: Thumbs up to a practical and growth-supportive policy statement: Abhay Agarwal, Founder, and Fund Manager, Piper Serica, SEBI Registered Portfolio Management Service Provider.

The RBI has chosen to support growth over inflation by keeping the rates at the same level. We believe it is a sensible choice because for India to attract foreign capital it will have to focus on generating growth. It has tried its best to balance the sharp increase in inflation forecast and a lower GDP growth forecast.

We believe that RBI does not want to signal a series of rate hikes that will increase the cost of borrowing and negatively impact the nascent recovery in consumer sentiment, manufacturing, and rural income. The hope is that with supply bottlenecks easing the inflation will trend down.

Equity markets will like the RBI’s continued focus on growth and its commitment to an accommodative stance to ensure there is an adequate flow of liquidity. The immediate beneficiaries will be consumers who are borrowing to purchase real estate and autos.

While rates have gone up over the last couple of months due to lower liquidity, we expect them to stay at the current level or trend down. This will benefit banks and NBFCs as the credit demand for large CAPEX has started to pick up post lockdowns, especially for large ticket infra projects.

We believe that RBI will use tactical measures like OMO, operations twists, exchange rate management, etc. to fight liquidity-driven inflation rather than increase policy rates. This is a very positive approach and will work well since RBIs foreign exchange position and overall banking system liquidity is very comfortable.

With small savings rates at all-time lows, investors are expected to continue to allocate more capital to equity markets to generate a positive long-term return. This will support equity markets in case FPIs continue to be net sellers. Overall, thumbs up to a practical and growth-supportive policy statement.

11:00 am: Ruchi Soya stock rises 7% as new FPO shares make market debut 

Stock of Ruchi Soya rose over 7% in early trade after shares under the recently concluded follow-on public offering (FPO) started trading today.

About 66.15 million new shares issued in the Rs 4,300-crore FPO began trading today. Shares of Ruchi Soya zoomed 7.78% to Rs 882.55 against the previous close of Rs 818.85 on BSE.

 Ruchi Soya stock opened with a gain of 3.8% at Rs 850 against the previous close of Rs 818.85 on BSE. Read more

10:30 am: Inflation pegged at 5.7% in 2022-23, says RBI governor

Inflation has been pegged at 5.7 per cent in 2022-23, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said during the latest monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting announcements. He added that inflation rates stood at 6.3 per cent (Q1), 5 per cent (Q2), 5.4 per cent (Q3) and 5.1 per cent (Q4).

He also explained that supply chain disruptions have rattled global commodities and financial markets.

10:25 am: GDP growth projected at 7.2% in 2022-23, says Shaktikanta Das

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, during the MPC meet decision announcements on Friday, said that real GDP for the year 2022-23 is projected at 7.2 per cent. He added that Q1 is expected to have a growth of 16.2 per cent, Q2 6.2 per cent, Q3 4.1 per cent and Q4 4 per cent. 

10:15 am: RBI cuts FY23 GDP forecast to 7.2% from 7.8%

10:10 am: RBI keeps Reverse Repo rate unchanged at 3.35%

10:05 am: RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 4%

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-led six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday voted unanimously to keep the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent.

9:16 am: Market opening

Sensex opened over 245 points higher at 59,280.43 and Nifty rose over 50 points to 17,698.15. 

Sun Pharma and Tata Steel were among the top gainers on Sensex. M&M and ICICI Bank were the top losers.

8:50 am: RBI MPC meet outcome for new financial year today

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the first monetary policy of the new financial year on Friday in the wake of concerns over rising inflation. 

The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Das, is likely to maintain status quo on interest rates but change its monetary policy stance on account of retail inflation upsetting its upper tolerance limit, geopolitical developments amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, and the exigency to safeguard as well as boost growth.

The RBI's rate-setting panel started its three-day meet on Wednesday to deliberate on firming up the next bi-monthly monetary policy. Read more

8:45 am:  FII and DII action

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 5,009.62 crore on April 7, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 1,774.70 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

8:40 am: Global updates

The S&P 500 ended higher on Thursday, with Pfizer and Tesla fueling a late-session rally while investors eyed the war in Ukraine and a potentially more aggressive Federal Reserve. Tesla Inc rose 1.2 percent and Microsoft Corp added 0.6 percent, helping lift the S&P 500 and provide the Nasdaq a modest gain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25% to end at 34,583.57 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.43 percent to 4,500.21. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.06 percent to 13,897.30.

Shares in Asia-Pacific rose on Friday after a comeback on Wall Street as investors continued to digest the Fed’s plans to fight inflation. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.45 percent in early trade, while the Topix advanced 0.19 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.35 percent. In South Korea, the Kospi climbed 0.38 percent.

8:30 am: SGX Nifty

The Indian equity market is likely to open flat today as SGX Nifty was trading 25 points higher at 17,765.50.

The Singapore Stock Exchange is considered to be the first indication of the opening of the Indian market.

8:15 am: Market on Thursday

Indian equity market fell for the third straight session on Thursday, tracking heavy losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, TCS and Reliance Industries amid weak global cues. Sensex slumped 575.46 points to end at 59,034 and Nifty declined 168.10 points to 17,639.55.

Titan, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro, TCS, Reliance Industries Limited, and Power Grid were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 3.24%

Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, M&M, and Dr Reddy's were among the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 2.38%.

Investors await cues from the RBI policy meeting outcome, which will be announced today.