The key equity barometers traded with modest gains and hit the day's high in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded a tad above the 17,050 mark after hitting the day's low of 16,850.15 in morning trade. Realty stocks witnessed bargain hunting after declining in the past seven trading sessions. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.
At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 325.49 points or 0.57% to 57,881.39. The Nifty 50 index advanced 82 points or 0.48% to 17,054.15.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.17% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.40%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,338 shares rose and 2,131 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.
The initial sell-off came amidst risks of contagion in the global financial sector, after fresh turbulence at Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse announced that it will borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.68 billion) from the Swiss National Bank in what it called "decisive action" to boost its liquidity.
The decision came shortly after shares of the lender fell sharply on Wednesday after its largest investor, Saudi National Bank said it could not provide more financial assistance because of regulatory constraints.
The difficulties in the global banking sector has put the spotlight on the European Central Bank's meeting later in the session. The ECB had previously signaled the likelihood of another interest rate increase of 50 basis points as underlying Eurozone remained elevated, but the banking turmoil moving closer to home could prompt the policy makers to opt for a more cautious stance.
Numbers to track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined to 7.357 from 7.363 previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.6475, compared with its close of 82.65 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement fell 0.53% to Rs 58,028.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.32% to 104.31.
The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.49% to 3.511.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement advanced 84 cents or 1.14% to $74.53 a barrel.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Realty index rose 1.36% to 388.20, snapping seven days losing run. The index witnessed bargain buying after sliding 5.78% in past seven trading sessions.
DLF (up 4.21%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.77%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 1.56%), Godrej Properties (up 1.43%) and Oberoi Realty (up 1.05%), Sobha (up 0.65%) advanced.
On the other hand, Sunteck Realty (down 1.72%), Brigade Enterprises (down 1.49%) and Phoenix Mills (down 0.65%) declined.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
