Sensex ends 814 pts higher ahead of Budget; Nifty rises 1.4%; Wipro, RIL, Infy, SBI lead

The benchmark equity indices closed higher on Monday as investors cheered Economic Survey 2022, which projected that the Indian economy will grow at a rate of 8-8.5% in FY23. The market witnessed broad-based buying with most of the sectoral indices closing in green ahead of the Union Budget 2022-23, slated to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament tomorrow. The firm cues from global peers and strong corporate earnings also boosted market sentiments.

Snapping previous session losses, the BSE Sensex opened higher and gained as much as 1,000 points to hit an intraday high of 58,257 points. In a similar trend, the NSE Nifty also witnessed the gap-up opening and rose 308 points to touch a day’s high of 17,410.

Paring some of early gains, the 30-share Sensex closed 814 points, or 1.41%, higher at 58,014, and the NSE Nifty added 238 points, or 1.39%, to settle at 17,340.

In line with the benchmark indices, the broader markets also settled with strong gains. The S&P BSE Midcap index and the S&P BSE Smallcap index rose 1.76% and 1%, respectively.

The domestic bourses remained in an upbeat mood today after the Economic Survey 2021–22 tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha pegged FY23 Indian GDP growth in the range of 8%-8.5% even as it has cautioned on the "uncertain" global environment on account of a new Covid-19 variant, and the rising global inflation and liquidity withdrawal.

The survey noted that equity capital raised by companies from initial public offerings has hit the highest level in a decade in the first eight months of the current financial year. The survey highlighted that 75 companies raised ₹89,066 crore from the primary market through initial public offerings in April-November, compared with ₹14,733 crore in the same period in 2020.

Pharma, IT sectors lead rally

On the sectoral front, most of the indices closed in positive terrain, while pharma and IT space gained the most. The BSE healthcare index closed 1.1% higher, led by Dr. Lal Pathlabs, Hester Biosciences, Panacea Biotec, Suven Pharmaceuticals, and Syncom Formulation (India).

The pharma sector was followed by IT index, which ended 0.88% higher. The best performers in this sector include NIIT, Affle (India), Birlasoft, MindTree, and Larsen & Toubro Infotech, which gained up to 8%.

Top gainers and losers

The top gainer on the BSE Sensex was Tech Mahindra, which ended 4.88% higher. Some of the other best performers include Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, and State Bank of India, which rose in the range of 2.9% to 3.7%.

Out of top 30 stocks on the BSE Sensex pack, 27 shares ended higher, barring IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL). The private lender IndusInd Bank emerged as the worst performer with a 3.5% loss, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank and HUL, which fell 2.14% and 0.38%, respectively.

Reliance Industries gained nearly 2% after global broking firm CLSA upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘outperform’. The agency expects the stock to hit Rs 2,955 in a year’s time, up 23% from the current levels.

Global equities follow Wall Street higher

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region as well as European markets traded mostly higher on Monday, following strong finish at Wall Street on Friday. The Asian region witnessed thin trade as markets in China, South Korea remained closed for Lunar New Year holidays. The concerns about rise in the U.K. interest rates and surge in oil prices added to worries over inflation.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 1.07% higher despite reporting even though data on industrial output and retail sales failed to meet market expectations.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong also added 1%, while the Straits Times Index in Singapore ended 0.1% higher.

In European markets, Germany’s DAX rose 1.1% in early deals, while France’s CAC index rose 0.64%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index edged marginally higher, while Spain’s IBEX index gained 0.12% in early deals.

Meanwhile, Wall Street closed higher on Friday, notching the biggest single-day gain of the year after economic data released on Friday showed a fall in consumer spending as well as consumer sentiment, which eased inflation fears. The benchmark S&P 500 closed 2.4% higher, driven by a surge in buying in the last hour of trading. The blue-chip Dow Jones index added 1.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 3.1%.