Benchmarks turn rangebound, PSU banks advance

The frontline indices traded in a narrow range with minor gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,450 mark after hitting the days low of 22,346.50 in early trade. PSU bank extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 104.1 points or 0.14% to 74,008.01. The Nifty 50 index added 17.45 points or 0.09% to 22,470.75.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.63% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.20%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,798 shares rose and 1,032 shares fell. A total of 107 shares were unchanged.

The three-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) begins today. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will unveil the decision of the first monetary policy meeting of the financial year 2024-25 on Friday, 5 April 2024.

Economy:

The World Bank on April 2 raised its GDP growth projection for India by 20 basis points to 6.6% in FY25. The global agency's projection for FY25 is significantly moderate compared to the estimate of a real GDP growth of 7.5% in the current financial year. However, it expects growth to pick up in subsequent years as a decade of robust public investment starts yielding dividends.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank Index rose 1.27% to 7,267.15. The index rallied 6.42% in four trading sessions.

Punjab National Bank (up 2.76%), Central Bank of India (up 2.14%), UCO Bank (up 1.54%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 1.07%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 1.01%), State Bank of India (up 0.46%), Canara Bank (up 0.3%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 0.24%) and Bank of India (up 0.14%) advanced.

On the other hand, Indian Bank (down 0.76%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.26%) and Union Bank of India (down 0.19%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 0.01% to 7.109 as compared with previous close 7.108.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged slightly lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.4275, compared with its close of 83.4200 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement rose 0.29% to Rs 69,182.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.06% to 104.75.

The United States 10-year bond yield gained 0.32% to 4.379.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2024 settlement lost 22 cents or 0.25% to $88.70 a barrel.

Stocks in spotlight:

Granules India gained 1.65%. The drug maker has announced that it has received a communication from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) indicating the inspection classification as Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI). The inspection was conducted at companys wholly-owned foreign subsidiary, Granules Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (GPI), located in Chantilly, Virginia, USA.

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) shed 0.52%. The company announced that it has surpassed 10,000 megawatt (MW) of operational portfolio, delivering reliable, affordable and clean power to the national grid. AGELs operational portfolio consists of 7,393 MW solar, 1,401 MW wind and 2,140 MW wind-solar hybrid capacity.

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