Sensex up by 560 points as streetwise bulls continue to march on, amidst instability in West Asia

Benchmark indexes had fallen more than 3% in the previous four trading sessions due to a selloff by FPIs of Rs 18,600 crore.

Money

By Sneha Sengupta On Apr 22, 2024

Since there was no additional escalation following Israel’s retaliatory strikes last week, Brent crude prices declined to trade at about $87 per barrel, down from $90 last week. Benchmark indexes had fallen more than 3% in the previous four trading sessions due to a selloff by FPIs of Rs 18,600 crore.

“On the domestic front, the hope of normal monsoon and above-expected direct tax collection added fuel to the market sentiment. PSU banks witnessed fresh buying today following the news that the Centre may disinvest minority stakes in five public sector banks (PSBs) if they fail to comply with the minimum public shareholding (MPS) norm by raising fresh capital from the market. Stock-specific actions will be seen as we progress into the earnings season,” stated Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

“The recovery was broad-based across sectors, with renewed interest in mid and smallcaps. Gold and oil prices showed some relief but are still at elevated levels. Hawkish remarks from the US Fed, driven by persistent inflation and robust economic data, spurred a rally in bond yields. The prevailing higher interest rate environment is expected to persist longer than expected, which, along with the moderating earnings growth, suggests a continuation of the consolidation in the near term,” mentioned Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

In order to find further clues, traders will now be monitoring US economic data as well as business earnings reports from India and other countries.

There were 2,599 gaining stocks and 1,310 decreasing, indicating a robust market breadth. A quarter of Sensex stocks increased. Sesnsex gains were primarily attributed to ICICI Bank’s 1.9% increase, which was followed by Larsen & Toubro’s 2.7% gain.