Bulls Take Charge! Sensex Surges 1,031 Points, Nifty Rallies Above 17,350; Rupee Up 17 Paise

The domestic equity market has ended the financial year 2022-23 on an excellent note, with the BSE Sensex on Friday surging 1,031.43 points or 1.78 per cent to settle at 58,991.52, amid a firm trend in the global markets. The NSE Nifty also rallied 279.05 points or 1.63 per cent to 17,359.75. The positive momentum in the equity market on Friday was also supported by fresh foreign fund inflows. The rupee also appreciated 17 paise to close at 82.17 (provisional) against the US dollar.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and BSE SmallCap indices also gained nearly 1 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respectively.

On the Sensex, On the Sensex, 26 out of 30 shares ended the day in the green. Reliance Industries, Nestle, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors were the top performers on Friday. Reliance gained the most, up 4.29 per cent. However, Sun Pharma, Asian Paint, Bajaj Finance, and Tata were the laggards, down by up to 0.77 per cent.

Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research- retail, Kotak Securities, said, “Domestic equity markets ended the week on a strong note. For the week, domestic markets closed in the positive territory. Sensex 30 and Nifty 50 indices rose more than 2 per cent. BSE Midcap and BSE Small-cap index gained about 1-2 per cent. Most of the sectoral indices reported positive gains during the week. However, BSE Power index saw negative returns during the week. Key global equity markets also witnessed a recovery, even though sentiments remained volatile.”

He added that euro zone headline inflation slowed to 6.9 per cent in March 2023, down from 8.5 per cent in February 2023. Crude oil price rose this week from the lows witnessed earlier this month. Markets will continue to focus on inflation numbers across key economies and related Central Bank actions. Domestic markets will keenly watch out for RBI policy meet scheduled next week. Over the coming weeks, the market will also start focusing on Q4FY23 earnings season.

Rupee Rises 17 Paise

The rupee on Friday also appreciated 17 paise to close at 82.17 (provisional) against the US dollar.

Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of (treasury) at Finrex Treasury Advisors, said, “As the dollar index rose to 102.44, the rupee, which had opened stronger at 82.12, was sold and it fell to 82.26, thus showing no signs of year-end selling of dollar to hedge exports. Asian currencies also fell slightly, thus keeping the dollar well bid.”

He said Brent oil on Friday was stable at $78.05 per barrel and Gold at $1,977 an ounce in the international market. The dollar-rupee premiums were also stable at 2.40 per cent.

“The rupee is expected to be in a range of 82-83 in the holiday-shortened next week and having the monetary policy decision on 6th and then the NFPR on April 7, 2023,” Bhansali said.

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