Domestic stocks surged today, with the Nifty 50 regaining 22,000 mark. Realty, metals and media shares were in demand. Trading was choppy due to weekly options expiry. The Fed's dovish stance on interest rates, coupled with India's strong PMI reading lifted spirits. Even broader markets rallied as traders swooped in on bargains. Switzerland's surprise rate cut added another layer of cheer.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 539.50 points or 0.75% to 72,641.19. The Nifty 50 index added 172.85 points or 0.79% to 22,011.95.

Tata Motors (up 2.57%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.43%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.98%) boosted the indices.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 2.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 2.01%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,749 shares rose and 1,076 shares fell. A total of 101 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slumped 7.12% to 12.15.

Economy:

The HSBC Flash India composite PMI rose to 61.3 in March as compared with 60.6 in February. It indicated a sharp rate of expansion that was the strongest since July 2023.

Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, said, Led by the strongest manufacturing output in nearly three-and-a-half years, the composite output index rose quickly. New orders rose at a faster pace than in the previous month, and within that both domestic and export orders showed improved vigour. Input prices grew at a faster pace in March, and all the increase was not passed on to output prices, leading to some softening in composite margins.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper slipped 0.62% to 7.053 as compared with the previous close of 7.097.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.1350, compared with its close of 83.1900 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement advanced 1.54% to Rs 66,761.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies was down 0.36% to 103.47.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.84% to 4.235.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2024 settlement lost 26 cents or 0.30% to $85.69 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Dow Jones index futures are up 98 points, indicating a strong start in the US.

Stock markets in Europe and Asia climbed on Thursday after the Federal Reserve reassured investors of its intention to cut interest rates three times this year, despite a recent rise in inflation.

In a surprise move, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) reduced its key interest rate by 0.25% to 1.5%. They predict Swiss inflation to remain below 2% for the foreseeable future and lowered their inflation forecasts for 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Central Bank of China (CBC) surprised markets by raising interest rates by 12.5 basis points to 2.00%. This move went against all market forecasts, which anticipated no change. The hike brings Taiwan's benchmark rate to its highest level since 2008.

Wall Street's main stock indexes closed higher on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged following a two-day policy meeting. While acknowledging recent inflation concerns, the Fed reaffirmed its commitment to three rate cuts in 2024. However, they reduced their projections for 2025 from four cuts to three. Chair Jerome Powell reassured investors that the cuts would still occur, but their timing depends on economic data.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NMDC added 1.07%. The state-owned iron ore miner informed that it has decreased prices of lump ore and fines, effective from 21 March 2024.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) advanced 2.22% after it emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for a project awarded by South Eastern Railway to upgrade electric traction system for Rs 167.28 crore.

Power Finance Corporation surged 7.10% after it sold its wholly owned subsidiary, Solarpur Transmission, to Torrent Power for Rs 6.54 crore.

Amber Enterprises India rallied 5.68% after the company signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 50% stake in a joint venture, Resojet Private, to carry on the business of manufacturing washing machines.

Wockhardt rose 0.53%. The company?s board of directors has approved the opening of qualified institutional placement (QIP) of equity shares with the floor price of Rs 544.02 per share.

Lloyds Metals and Energy rallied 2.40% after the iron ore miner announced that its board has approved raising of funds through qualified institutional placement (QIP) upto Rs 5,000 crore.

GE Power India gained 5.24% after the company announced that it has received a purchase order from Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), Tarapur, Maharashtra.

SEPC hit an upper circuit of 5% after its wholly owned subsidiary, Shriram EPC FZE bagged a work order for artificial intelligence (AI) centre in Dubai worth AED 20.05 million.

NHPC added 1.44% after the meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 27 March 2024 to consider the proposal for raising of debt during financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Jupiter Wagons advanced 3.12% after the company announced acquisition of Aurangabad-based Bonatrans India (BIPL) for a sum of Rs 271 crore. BIPL makes rolling stock wheelsets.

Prince Pipes & Fittings added 2.75% after the company has entered into asset purchase agreement with Klaus Waren Fixtures and NM Shah for the purchase of certain assets in two tranches. Total cost of acquisition is Rs 55 crore, funded through internal accruals.

New listing:

Shares of Krystal Integrated Services closed at Rs 712.30 on the BSE, representing a premium of 0.38% compared with the issue price of Rs 715.

The scrip was listed at Rs 795, exhibiting a premium of 11.19% to the issue price.

The stock has hit a high of 795 and a low of 703.05. On the BSE, over 5.42 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.

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