Sensex trades higher, Nifty holds above 9,300; ICICI Bank top gainer

In a volatile trade, the benchmark indices were trading  higher on Monday tracking positive global cues after French centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron comfortably won the closely watched French presidential election, defeating his far-rightist opponent Marine Le Pen.

At 12:29 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,950, up 92 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,321, up 36 points. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap outperformed to gain 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.  

Meanwhile, on Friday, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 364 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 298 crore.

Despite Friday’s pull back below 9,370, the 9,300-9,280 region was intact, retaining the positivity, though a bit of vulnerability has evidently crept in. Such doubts, however, could be negated if a direct rise above 9,370 unfolds again. And such a move is anticipated, as long as Nifty holds above 9,330," said brokerage Geojit Financial Services in a technical note.

Buzzing stocks

ICICI Bank (up 3%) gained for the third session in a row and was the top Sensex gainer. The private sector lender had reported a nearly three-fold jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,025 crore in the March 2017 quarter.

Ambuja Cements advanced over 8% to Rs 266.40, while ACC gained 6% to Rs 1754 after the Swiss cement giant Lafarge Holcim set the ball rolling for the merger of both the companies. Both ACC and Ambuja had their board meetings on Friday, and they concluded with a decision to initiate the process for exploring the possibility of a merger.

Among losers, Avenue Supermarts, the parent of D-Mart, shed over 3% to Rs 783 after the company reported a 47.45% jump in standalone net profit at Rs 96.66 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017. The company had reported net profit of Rs 65.55 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. 

Hudco's IPO opens today

The government plans to raise up to Rs 1,224 crore by selling equity shares in the Hudco's initial public offer (IPO) that will hit the capital market on Monday.

State-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco), a ‘Miniratna’ firm which provides loans for housing and urban infrastructure projects, will launch the IPO on May 8 where the government is offering 204,058,747 shares for sale.

Hudco has fixed the price band at Rs 56-60 per equity share. The issue will close on May 11.

Forex reserves touch record high  

Foreign exchange reserves rose $1.594 billion to touch a life-time high of $372.73 billion in the week to April 28, supported by increase in foreign currency assets (FCAs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. The reserves had gone up $1.250 billion to $371.14 billion in the previous week. 

Macron wins in France

The independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, who favors keeping France inside the European Union, was elected the country's president on Sunday. His victory is seen as a supporting factor for global equity markets that have had some concern about the tide of nationalism and protectionism in recent political contests on both sides of the Atlantic.

Focus now shifts to French legislative elections in June with market participants concerned if Macron's La Republique En Marche can get a majority in lower-house of parliament, where it does not hold a single seat. 

Global markets

The euro hit a six-month high against the dollar, while Asian shares gained and US stock futures briefly touched a record high. 

The euro rose to as high as $1.1024, its highest in about six months, before stepping back to $1.0973, 0.2% below late US levels last week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.3% snapping a three-day losing streak. Japan's Nikkei gained 1.7% to hit a near 1 1/2-year high after a five-day weekend due to the Golden Week holidays. China's Shanghai Composite bucked the trend to lose 0.9%.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 mini futures gained 0.2% to hit a record high of 2,403.75 in early trade before giving up the gains to trade flat.

(With inputs from Reuters)