Indian equity benchmarks began the new fiscal year (FY23) on a high note, with both the Sensex and the Nifty ending Friday’s trading session up more than a per cent. The markets began flat with a bearish bias due to poor global signals but rebounded to trade in the positive zone for the rest of the day. 

The Nifty50 has formed a long bull candle on the daily chart in a positive sign, and one may expect further upside in the short term, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

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Indian Indices

Sensex rose 708.18 points or 1.21% to 59,276.69 and Nifty was up by 205.70 points or 1.18% to 17,670.45 in the previous session. Sensex touched a high and low of 59,396.62 and 58,450.04, respectively. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. Nifty traded in a range of 17,703.70 and 17,422.70. There were 40 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. 

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Broader Indices

The broader indices ended in green with the BSE Midcap index rising 1.39%, while the Small cap index was up by 1.71%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 3.44%, Power up by 3.16%, Oil & Gas up by 2.73%, Realty up by 2.34% and Finance up by 2.13%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

Support and Resistance levels

The key support level for the Nifty is placed at 17,494, followed by 17,318. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,775 and 17,880, according to pivot charts.

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SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 29-points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 17,699.20 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:45 hours IST.

Asian Markets

Asian markets finished mixed on Friday. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.94%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 0.56%. Shares in Hong Kong were unchanged with the Hang Seng at 21,995.44.

US Markets

The S&P 500 rose 15.45 points, or 0.3%, to 4,545.86.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 139.92 points, or 0.4%, to 34,818.27.

The Nasdaq rose 40.98 points, or 0.3%, to 14,261.50.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 20.99 points, or 1%, to 2,091.11.

European Markets

European markets finished broadly higher on Friday with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 was up 1.44% while London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.30% and Germany’s DAX is up 0.22%.

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India’s FY23 GDP growth estimated at 7.4%: FICCI survey

India’s annual median GDP growth forecast stood at 7.4 % for 2022-23, according to a survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) released on April 3.  The Economic Outlook Survey estimates a minimum and maximum growth of 6.0 % and 7.8 %, respectively. According to the industry chamber’s survey, the median growth forecast for agriculture and allied activities has been put at 3.3 % for 2022-23. The industry and services sectors are expected to grow 5.9 % and 8.5 %, respectively, during the fiscal year. Citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the existing COVID-19 pandemic, the trade body economists also noted that downside risks to growth may remain escalated and pose a significant challenge to global recovery. The FICCI’s Economic Survey projected CPI-based inflation at 6.0 % in Q4 2021-22 and 5.5 % in Q1 2022-23. It also said that the median forecast of 5.3 % for 2022-23 for CPI-based inflation may fluctuate between a range of 5.0 % and 5.7 %, respectively.

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India’s merchandise exports reach a new high of $418 billion in FY22

India’s merchandise exports spurted to a record high of $418 billion in 2021-22 fiscal on higher shipments of petroleum products, engineering goods, gem and jewellery and chemicals, according to official data released on Sunday. Outbound shipments touched an all-time high of $40 billion in a month in March 2022, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters here. Exports stood at $34 billion in March 2021. Merchandise exports were worth $292 billion in FY2020-21. India’s merchandise exports had breached the targeted $400 billion mark on March 23 this year. The key export sectors, which contributed to record healthy growth, include petroleum products, engineering, gems and jewellery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The top five export destinations are the US, UAE, China, Bangladesh and the Netherlands.

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AP govt cancels Adani’s bids to supply imported coal

Andhra Pradesh has cancelled bids made for two separate tenders by India’s Adani Enterprises to supply imported coal as the prices quoted were too high, two state government officials told Reuters. It is the first time in recent years that a major government tender for imported coal has been cancelled over high prices. Details on the cancellation have not been previously reported. India has asked utilities to step up coal imports to address a domestic shortfall. However, expensive imports could add to the financial woes of state government-owned, debt-laden power distributors, which have overdue payments of nearly $15 billion to power generators. Adani, India’s largest coal trader, offered to supply last month 500,000 tonnes of South African coal at 40,000 rupees ($526.50) per tonne and another 750,000 tonnes at 17,480 rupees ($230.08) in January, the officials said.

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Torrent Power takes over power supply in Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu

Torrent Power on Friday announced a formal acquisition of the power distribution operations in the Union Territories (UTs) of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, one of the first UTs to be privatized under the government’s programme. The Ahmedabad-based will now supply electricity to around 150,000 customers in the UTs through a newly established Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (DNHDD Power Distribution Company). Torrent Power will own a 51% stake in the new power distribution company, while the remaining 49% stake will be owned by the administrator of the UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu. With a customer base of around 150,000, the DNHDD Power Distribution Company will have annual sales of 9 billion units of power and annual revenue of about Rs 4,500 crore.

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Dr Reddy’s to acquire Novartis’s cardio drug Cidmus for Rs 463 crore

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has agreed to acquire the cardiovascular brand Cidmus from global pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG for $61 million (approximately Rs 463 crore). This comes weeks after Dr Reddy’s inking an exclusive sales and distribution agreement with the Switzerland-based global healthcare giant to buy the latter’s established medicines that included the Voveran range, the Calcium range, and Methergine. Under the latest agreement, Dr Reddy’s will be assigned and transferred the Cidmus trademark in India from Novartis AG. Cidmus saw sales of Rs 136.4 crore in India for the most recent twelve months ending February 2022. In a statement on April 1, Dr Reddy’s said the Cidmus brand shall be affixed on the pharmaceutical composition comprising a combination of Valsartan and Sacubitril (currently under Novartis patent) which is indicated for heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction.

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Bulk Deal data

KAUSHIK MAHESH WAGHELA bought 49,600 shares in Atal Realtech Limited at Rs 108.75 per share on the NSE.

NISHANT PITTI sold 5,50,000 shares in BLS Intl Servs Ltd at Rs 247.10 per share on the NSE.

NIRZAR ENTERPRISES sold 7,00,464 shares in Hind. Oil Exploration at Rs 188.59 per share on the NSE.

WF ASIAN RECONNAISSANCE FUND LIMITED sold 6,98,922 shares in IIFL Wealth Mgmt Ltd at Rs 1714.05 per share on the NSE.

NAVODYA ENTERPRISES bought 1,02,224 shares in SML Isuzu Limited at Rs 585.96 per share on the NSE.

LOK PRAKASHAN LTD bought 1,04,871 shares of Star Paper Mills Ltd at Rs 172.94 per share on NSE.

WINRO COMMERCIAL INDIA LIMITED bought 14,00,000 shares of Welspun Corp Limited at Rs 181.06 per share on NSE.

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DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,909.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 183.79 crore in the Indian equity market on April 1, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

NSE F&O Ban

No security or stock has been put under the F&O ban for April 4. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.