The frontline indices marched higher and hit a fresh record high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty scaled above 22,650 mark. Consumer durables shares rallied for the eleventh day in a row.

At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 494 points or 0.66% to 74,739.91. The Nifty 50 index added 145.05 points or 0.64% to 22,656.70.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 74,765.1 and 22,663.15 in early afternoon trade. Further, the Nifty Bank index also registered its fresh record high today at 48,668.25.

In the broader market, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.60% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.30%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,019 shares rose and 1,757 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India’s foreign exchange reserves increased $2.951 billion to $645.583 billion for the week ended March 29, according to the latest RBI report. This is the sixth consecutive week of a jump in overall reserves.

For the week ended March 29, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased $2.354 billion to $570.618 billion.

Gold reserves increased $673 million to $52.16 billion during the week, the RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down $73 million to $18.145 billion.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down $2 million to $4.66 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, gained 1.32% to 11.49. The Nifty 25 April 2024 futures were trading at 22,731.95, at a premium of 75.25 points as compared with the spot at 22,656.70.

The Nifty option chain for the 25 April 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 30.2 lakh contracts at the 22,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 44.4 lakh contracts were seen at 22,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Consumer Durables gained 1.61% to 33,836.75. The index surged 8.84% in the eleven trading sessions.

Voltas (up 8.65%), Blue Star (up 4.24%), Whirlpool of India (up 3.62%), Amber Enterprises India (up 2.57%), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (up 2.4%), Cera Sanitaryware (up 1.39%), Kajaria Ceramics (up 0.75%), Kalyan Jewellers India (up 0.74%), Havells India (up 0.65%) and V-Guard Industries (up 0.44%) advanced.

On the other hand, Century Plyboards (India) (down 1.41%), Bata India (down 0.35%) and Rajesh Exports (down 0.24%) edged lower.

Voltas surged 8.65% after the company announced that it has achieved the highest-ever sales of 2 million air conditioner (AC) units in the financial year 2023-24.

Amber Enterprises India rallied 2.57% after the firm’s wholly owned subsidiary, AT Railway Sub Systems signed Joint venture (JV) agreement with Yujin Machinery, Sinkodia Pte, Dujin International to form joint venture company.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Godrej Properties (GPL) advanced 6.60% after the company announced that it has sold over 1,050 homes worth over Rs 3,000 crore in its project, Godrej Zenith, located in Sector 89, Gurugram.

Aurobindo Pharma shed 0.66%. The pharmaceutical company announced that the US drug regulator has concluded its inspection at the new injectable facility in Andhra Pradesh, with three observations.

Godrej Consumer Products rallied 2.79% after it announced that India organic business continued to deliver strong underlying volume growth at high-single digit with growth being broad-based across both home care and personal care.