Market opens higher in early trade; breadth strong

The key equity barometers traded with modest gains in early trade. The Nifty traded above 22,100 level. Barring Healthcare all the other sectoral indices on the NSE were traded in green.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 337.07 points or 0.47% to 72,807.37. The Nifty 50 index added 100.50 points or 0.46% to 22,105.20.

In the broader market, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.50% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.81%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,048 shares rose and 849 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 10.13 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 5,024.36 crore in the Indian equity market on 26 March, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Avenue Supermarts shed 0.08%. The company has opened three new stores at Karimnagar (Telangana), Narsingi, Hyderabad (Telangana) and at Sachin, Surat (Gujarat). The total number of stores as on date stands at 357.

Central Depository Services (India) (CDSL) dropped 5.15% after the Standard Chartered Bank - Corporate Banking is reportedly likely to sell entire 7.18% stake (75 lakh equity shares) in CDSL for $151 million through a block deal. The floor price for the block deal has been fixed at Rs 1,672 per share, as per reports.

Prism Johnson rallied 4.47% after the company said that its board will meet on Friday, 29 March 2024 to consider raising funds via non convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.03% to 7.087 as compared with previous close 7.089.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee is edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.3100, compared with its close of 83.2925 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement rose 0.01% to Rs 66,119.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.14% to 104.38.

The United States 10-year bond yield grew by 0.10% to 4.237.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2024 settlement shed 66 cents or 0.77% to $ 84.97 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Most of the Asian stocks decline on Wednesday as investors assessed economic data from China and Australia.

Chinas combined industrial profit for January and February climbed 10.2% year on year, data showed. Industrial profits fell 2.3% for the whole of 2023. Data from Australia showed consumer price inflation in February rose 3.4% year over year.

U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday as investors awaited economic data in a holiday-shortened week to gauge the Federal Reserve's policy path. The Personal Consumption Expenditure data is due to be released on Friday.

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