NIFTY started the day at 17,533 with a small gap-down of 23 points. There was a sudden news-based up-move and the index sustained the breakout. There was a 1 PM fall but there was a quick recovery. NIFTY closed at 17,599, up by 42 points or 0.24%. 

BANK NIFTY started the day at 40,940 with a gap-down of 58 points. BNF underperformed yesterday and it almost lagged behind the general market today as well. 41K was protected by the bulls. The index closed at 41,041, up by 41 pts or 0.1%.

NIFTY Realty (+2.8%) and NIFTY Auto (+0.9%) moved up the most. NIFTY IT (-0.73%) and NIFTY FMCG (-0.54%) were the only indices that closed in red.

Major Asian markets closed mixed. European markets are currently trading in the green.

Today’s Moves

Adani Ent (+3.3%) was NIFTY50’s top gainer. As per reports, the stock is likely to enter Sensex once the HDFC-HDFC Bank merger is complete. Adani Green, Adani Trans, and Adani Total Gas also hit their 5% upper circuits.

Realty stocks Godrej Properties (+6.5%), DLF (+4.3%), Oberoi Realty (+4%), Sobha (+1.95%), and others surged after RBI said it’s keeping policy rates unchanged.

Bajaj twins Bajaj Finance (+2.9%) and Bajaj Finserv (+1.93%) moved up today.

Muthoot Finance (-3.07%) declared a dividend of Rs 22 per share.

Major IT stocks HCL Tech (-1.7%), TechM (-0.97%), and Wipro (-0.84%) fell.

Vedanta (-4.5%) turned ex-dividend today. The company had declared its fifth interim dividend of Rs 20.50 per share.

DMart (-4.3%) fell even after it reported a 20% YoY growth in standalone revenue to ₹10,337 crore for Q4 FY23.

Markets Ahead

The highlight of the day was the surprise decision by the RBI on the interest rate. A 25 basis points hike was expected but the RBI decided to pause the hike. This led to the sudden up-move at 10 AM. 

It is usual to see such moves on an event day. However, the market sustained the move and that is something special looking at the previous rate decision days.

RBI projected the growth rate at 6.5% against the previous 6.4% for the next FY. Inflation is projected at 5.2%.

The market will remain shut tomorrow on account of Good Friday. The global markets also will be off and the European markets will reopen only on Tuesday on account of the Easter holiday.

Quarterly settlement will take place today as tomorrow is a holiday. 

The US Jobs data will be released soon and it will have a major impact on the US markets and Fed outlook.

How did the first expiry of the financial year 2023-24 go? Let us know in the comments section of the marketfeed app.