Sensex ends choppy day 115 pts up, Nifty near 17,400; OMC, gas stocks slide

CLOSING BELL: Gas stocks, including Mahanagar Gas and Indraprastha Gas, dropped up to 6 per cent after the government kept domestic gas prices unchanged

Stock market highlights: A listless session picked pace, albeit mildly, in the fag-end of the session as buying in financial shares joined auto stocks. After oscillating roughly 450 points during the day, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 59,106, up 115 points or 0.19 per cent. The Nifty50, meanwhile, ended at 17,398, up 38 points or 0.22 per cent.

The broader markets, however, held their gains through the day with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices, eventually, settling 0.36 per cent and 1.17 per cent higher, respectively.

The better part of the day was spent in the negative zone by benchmarks as they consolidated after Friday's stupendous rally. Besides, higher oil prices, and rising bond yields hurt sentiment.

There were, however, sectoral gainers and losers amid related news flow.

Market movers

The Nifty Auto index jumped 1.5 per cent, led by Hero Moto, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, and Eicher Motors, as March automobile sales maintained robust momentum.

Gas stocks, meanwhile, dropped up to 6 per cent after the government kept domestic gas prices unchanged at $8.6/mmBtu on a provisional basis from April 2023 to September 2023. The ceiling, however, was reduced marginally to $12.1/mmBtu from $12.5/mmBtu. READ MORE

Shares of upstream oil and gas companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India, surged up to 6 per cent on the BSE in Monday's intra-day trade after oil prices rose sharply after OPEC+ announced surprise output cuts. READ MORE

IPO Update :: Avalon Technologies

The company's Rs 865-crore offering was off to a slow start with just 2 per cent subscription till 3:30 PM on day 1 of the offer. Retail portion was subscribed 11 per cent, while NII portion was picked up 1 per cent.

4:35 PM

COMMENT:: Central banks may remain hawkish post OPEC+ surprise move

"Investors were of the view that the easing price pressure would provide the central bank with leeway to pause the rate hike. However, the surprise production cut by OPEC+ has fuelled concerns about inflationary pressure, which may prompt central banks to remain hawkish. The downside pressure in the market was mitigated as auto stocks rallied in response to the latest sales data, indicating a surge in demand. Additionally, India's manufacturing PMI exceeded expectations, demonstrating its swiftest growth rate in three months due to increased output and new orders."

- Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

4:34 PM

Nifty: Decisive move above 17,500 may induce a strong directional move

"Following a positive start, the benchmark index Nifty remained mostly range bound as the traders preferred to remain lean during the truncated week. The trend for the short term, however, remains positive as Nifty closed well above the support level of 17,200. The bulls are going to have the upper hand as long as Nifty remains above 17,200. On the higher end, 17,500 is likely to act as crucial resistance for the Nifty. A decisive move above 17,500 may induce a strong directional upmove."

- Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

4:33 PM

COMMENT:: 17,000 to act as strong support for Nifty in April series

"The Nifty trend with last Friday's move has switched to a buy on dips approach and has become sideways-to-up from a sideways-to-down trend. The reason for the trend being sideways-to-up and not completely up is because the Nifty is still in a broad-based sideways range between 16,750 and 18,220. This is an intermediate up-move in an otherwise broad sideways trend on the higher time frames. 17,000 will remain a very strong support for the Nifty Index going forward in April as the 17,000 puts has the highest open interest on the put side."

- Rahul Ghose, Founder & CEO – Hedged, an algorithm-powered advisory platform

4:24 PM

Avalon Technologies IPO off to a slow start; Here's what brokerages recommend

Electronic manufacturing company Avalon Technologies' initial public offering (IPO) opened for subscription on April 3, and will close on April 6, 2023. The price band of Rs 865-crore public issue is set at Rs 415-435 per share. The IPO was subscribed merely 3 per cent as of 4 PM on Monday. READ MORE

4:20 PM

KPIT Technologies slumps 12% after JP Morgan downgrades stock

JP Morgan initiated coverage on the stock with an "underweight" rating and a target price at Rs 540 per share. READ MORE

4:17 PM

Rail Vikas Nigam soar 10% after company bags orders from NHAI, Indian Railways

The average trading volumes on the counter jumped nearly five-fold as around 5 million shares changed hands on the BSE. READ MORE

4:14 PM

Shares of city gas distribution tumble; MGL, IGL fall up to 6%

The government kept domestic gas prices unchanged at $8.6/mmBtu on a provisional basis from April 2023 to September 2023. READ MORE

4:10 PM

Manappurm Finance hits 52-week high; up 11% in a week on improved outlook

CRISIL Ratings believes MFL's capitalisation and asset quality will remain strong supported by its gold loan business. READ MORE

4:09 PM

Orient Electric dips 5%, nears 52-week low as MD & CEO Rakesh Khanna resigns

Shares of Orient Electric dipped 5 per cent on Monday as Rakesh Khanna was set to step down from the post of Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) from the close of business hours today (April 03, 2023). READ MORE

4:03 PM

ONGC, Oil India rally after Crude Oil prices surge post OPEC+ output cut

Sustained higher crude oil prices and gas realisations can result in better profitability for upstream oil and gas companies, analysts said. READ MORE