The Indian equity and debt markets were shut on Friday on account of holiday for Good Friday. The markets were also closed on the first day of the week for holiday of Holi and were open for only three days during the week. In Thursday’s trading session, benchmark indices started financial year 2022 on a strong footing, ending at the highest point of the day, taking cues from green across the European and Asian markets. The BSE Sensex reclaimed the 50,000 mark to end at 50,029.83, stronger by 520.68 points or 1.05 per cent and the NSE Nifty ended at 14,867.35, up 176.65 points or 1.20 per cent. The BSE Metal index galloped by more than 5 per cent, while the healthcare, oil and IT indices gained around a per cent each.
The broader markets outperformed their largecap counterparts, with the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index adding 1.6 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.
Overnight, global equity markets surged on Thursday, with U.S. and European benchmark stock indexes setting record highs, on the back of the strongest manufacturing data around the world in decades and a drop in bond yields that lifted big tech shares.
US President Joe Biden’s sweeping $2.3 trillion plan to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure added to investor enthusiasm, as did accelerating vaccine rollouts.
The dollar fell, easing off nearly three-year highs in the first quarter, while oil rose before a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies that was expected to keep supply tight.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 also touched a new high as it charged past the 4,000 mark after the Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity soared to its highest level in more than 37 years in March.
Back home, after Thursday’s strong upmove analysts believe the momentum for markets to gain further is high.
“Recovery of Nifty from support around level of 14,700 is positive from a short-term perspective. If Nifty sustains above 14,700 it is expected that the market will gain momentum and increase the odds of fresh breakouts above 14,900, leading to an upside projection till the 15,300 levels. The momentum indicators like RSI and MACD support the upside move indicating that a fresh breakout’s potential is exceptionally high,” Ashis Biswas, head of technical research at CapitalVia Global Research told NDTV.