Sensex, Nifty edge higher in early trade; Aarti Drugs, PNB Housing & Adani Tranmission jump up to 6%

Indian equity benchmarks traded higher in Thursday's early deals amid a volatile trading session. The domestic indices were up today led by gains in technology, pharma, consumer and metal stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 53 points or 0.08 per cent to trade at 62,675, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 24 points or 0.13 per cent higher to trade at 18,558. Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap crawled 0.33 per cent higher and small-cap was up 0.90 per cent.

Investor sentiments got a boost from solid economic growth data. India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 6.10 per cent in the last quarter of the previous fiscal (Q4 FY23).

On the global front, Asian equities were mostly up today, defying an overnight weakness in US stocks.

Bach home, 12 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Metal were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.81 per cent, 0.79 per cent, 0.30 per cent, 0.64 per cent and 0.38 per cent, respectively.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 3,405.90 crore worth of Indian equities on Wednesday. FIIs have been net buyers in Indian stocks in 24 of the last 25 sessions. In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded Rs 2,528.52 crore shares yesterday.

"There are many positives going in favour of the market. One, the US House of Representatives has passed the US debt ceiling bill indicating that the debt impasse will be resolved. Two, the FPI investment in India continues. Three, the Q4 FY23 and full year FY23 GDP growth figures coming at 6.10 per cent and 7.20 per cent, respectively, have impressively beaten the expectations indicating that the FPI optimism is justified. The 4 per cent decline in crude is another macro positive. These positives, particularly the GDP numbers, can impart resilience to the market. The only concern is the rising valuations which might nudge DIIs to sell and thereby neutralising the FPI buying," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

On the stock-specific front, Apollo Hospitals was the top Nifty gainer as the stock rose 4.29 per cent to trade at Rs 4,820.45. Also, Divi's Lab, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Asian Paints and Bajaj Auto moved up to 2.40 per cent higher.

In contrast, Coal India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Maruti and Britannia slipped up to 4.17 per cent.

The overall market breadth was strong as 2,122 shares were advancing while 867 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, HUL, HDF twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Axis Bank, Asian Paints and Infosys were among the top gainers.

In addition, Aarti Drugs, PNB Housing, Adani Tranmission and Brightcom Group jumped up to 5.75 per cent.

On the flip side, Eureka Forbes, Finolex Cables, Bajaj Holding and Suzlon Energy fell up to 2.74 per cent.

Sensex had slipped 347 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 62,622 in the previous session, while Nifty had moved 99 points or 0.53 per cent lower to close at 18,534.

Nifty and Nifty Bank outlooks

"For Nifty, one can anticipate a further rise in the coming days with strength indicated. The levels near 18,100 would be the crucial support zone while on the upper side, a decisive breach above 18,400 would trigger a fresh upward move with the next targets of 18,700-18,850 levels. The support for the day is seen at 18,200 levels while the resistance is seen at 18,450," said Vaishali Parekh, Vice-President - Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher.

"Nifty Bank would need a decisive breakthrough above the 44,200 zones for a fresh breakout and anticipate a further rise in the coming days. It would have a daily range of 43,500-44,200 levels," Parekh stated.

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