Sensex Today | Share Market Live Updates : Benchmarks jump at open, Sensex up 400pts, Nifty above 22,100, Auto, Metal up

Sensex Today Live : BPCL, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while Apollo Hospital Enterprises, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Nestle India and HUL, were the top losers.   

Sensex Today Live : Infosys, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, and HUL, were the only losers on the BSE Sensex in early trades. 

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices opened jumped at open on Friday, driven by strong domestic GPD growth print and positive signals from global markets.

At opening bell, Sensex was up 322.36 points, or 0.44%, at 72,822.66 and Nifty was up 134.95 points, or 0.61%, at 22,117.75.

Sensex Today Live : The Board of Directors of One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm approved the discontinuation of various inter-company agreements with its associate entity, Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL)

The company, in an exhcange filing said, “One 97 Communications Ltd (Paytm) would like to inform that the Company and its associate entity, Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), have introduced additional measures to strengthen their approach towards independent operations of PPBL”.

It added that as part of the process, Paytm and PPBL have mutually agreed to discontinue various inter-company agreements with Paytm and its group entities. Further, the shareholders of PPBL have agreed to simplify the Shareholders Agreement (SHA) to support PPBL’s governance, independent of its shareholders.

“The Board of OCL approved the termination of agreements and amendment of SHA on March 1, 2024,” the statement read.

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were green during pre-open on Friday, driven by strong domestic GPD growth print and positive signals from global markets.

Sensex was up 111.17 points, or 0.15%, at 72,611.47 and Nifty was up 65.50 points, or 0.3%, at 22,048.30 during pre-open.

Sensex Today Live : Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty 50 are projected to start on a positive note this Friday, buoyed by encouraging signals from global markets. The Sensex closed at 72,500.30, marking an increase of 195.42 points or 0.27%, while the Nifty 50 ended up 31.65 points or 0.14% higher at 21,982.80.

On the daily chart, the Nifty formed a small positive candle with shadows at both ends. According to Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, this pattern technically signifies a high wave type candle pattern, indicative of continued high volatility at lower levels. The emergence of such a pattern following a few sessions of decline suggests a potential resurgence of bullish trends from the lows. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : On Friday, the domestic benchmark equity indices will start on a positive note, influenced by encouraging signals from global markets.

The majority of Asian markets demonstrated an upward trend, and the US stock market indices experienced a surge after the release of inflation data and remarks from US Federal Reserve officials, which helped form expectations regarding the central bank’s interest rate reductions.

Investors in the stock market are expected to respond to a variety of data released overnight, including US inflation, unemployment claims, India’s Q3 GDP growth, fiscal deficit, and others. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Despite slower growth in consumption and government spending than previously projected, India’s economy is poised to grow by 7.6% in FY24, according to the second advance estimate released by the government. This growth is attributed to strong investment in plant and machinery, robust manufacturing growth, and a slight uptick in trade.

Earlier in January, the government had predicted a fiscal growth of 7.3%. The current financial year is expected to see a 10.2% growth in gross fixed capital formation or investments in fixed assets, aligning closely with the January projection. However, both inflation-adjusted household spending and government expenditure are anticipated to see a modest growth of 3% in the current fiscal, a decrease from the January estimates of 4.4% and 4% respectively. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : India’s GDP data for the third quarter of Financial Year 2023-24, released by the Statistics Ministry on February 29, revealed an unexpected 8.4% growth in the economy during the October-December quarter of FY 24. Economists were taken aback by this surge as they had estimated lower growth due to a slight decrease in government expenditure, sluggish industrial output growth, and an irregular monsoon during the third quarter. However, the robust construction and manufacturing sectors played a pivotal role in surpassing these predictions. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Buoyed by better-than-expected GDP data and improved forecasts for the current financial year, Gift Nifty futures was trading far ahead of Thursday’s Nifty 50 close.

At 7:50 am, the Gift Nifty at 22,205 was more than 200 points ahead of Nifty 50’s Thursday close of 21,982.80.

Japan’s Nikkei hit a fresh record high on Friday, buoyed by the bounce on Wall Street as a key U.S. inflation reading was in line with expectations, while markets elsewhere in Asia were more subdued on China’s still-uncertain economic outlook.

The Nikkei index gained 1.8% to hit a fresh all-time high, extending a surge of 7.9% the previous month when it breached levels last seen in 1989. Australia’s resources-heavy shares also hit a record high and were last up 0.3% on the day.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, however, fell 0.1%, weighed down by a 0.2% drop in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index. The Asia index is set for a weekly loss of 1%.

Data on Friday showed China’s factory activity contracted for a fifth straight month in February, while the expansion in the services sector picked up pace.

China’s mainland markets were tentative, with both the bluechips and Shanghai Composite index mostly flat on the first day of March.

Japan’s factory activity shrank at the fastest pace in more than 3-1/2 years in February, a private-sector survey showed on Friday.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs. The U.S. personal consumer expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge for inflation, rose 0.3% in January from a month earlier. The core PCE price index rose 0.4%, as expected.

In Europe, inflation readings in Germany, France and Spain all eased, mostly in line with expectations, which should bode well for the eurozone inflation data due later on Friday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which reflects interest rate expectations, was also flat at 4.6373%, having eased 4 bps to 4.644%.

Oil prices edged up on Friday. Brent rose 0.4% to $82.21 a barrel, while U.S. crude gained 0.3% to $78.47 per barrel.

The spot gold price was flat at $2,043.99.