Nifty, Sensex rally extends to sixth session as FMCG, banks shine despite jittery global cues

Nifty, Sensex have gained around 2.1 percent over the past one month each.

Domestic indices Nifty 50 and Sensex extended their rally for the sixth consecutive session on April 22, albeit on a more muted note compared to the bumper gains recorded  during this winning streak.

At close, the Sensex was up 187.09 points or 0.24 percent at 79,595.59, and the Nifty was up 41.70 points or 0.17 percent at 24,167.25. Despite the tepid gains, about 2,389 shares advanced, indicating that the market breadth was in favour of the bulls, 1,453 shares declined, and 137 shares were unchanged.

While the benchmarks traded flat, the broader markets continued to shine. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices gained 0.8 percent each, as investors continued to hunt for bargains among the beaten-down counters.

"Indian markets are expected to remain largely unperturbed by the issues in US markets and continue to see strong buying interest, particularly in smaller stocks," said HDFC Securities’ Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research.

On the sectoral front, the banking index posted strong gains, as the Reserve Bank of India's released the final Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) guidelines, which seem to be far softer than the draft guidelines. According to the RBI, this will lead to 600 bps improvement in LCR at the aggregate level for the banking sector.

The Nifty FMCG gauge shone brightly, soaring nearly two percent during the session, as Switzerland-based brokerage UBS turned constructive on the consumer staples sector. In a note, the broking house upgraded a series of FMCG players on expectations of the current financial year paving the way for a broad-based recovery in the sector.

Over the last eight trading sessions, the Nifty has risen more than 2,400 points from the recent swing low of 21,743. According to experts, the previous swing high of 23,870 is now expected to support the Nifty. On the higher side, immediate resistance is seen at 24,226 and 24,546.

Shares of IndusInd Bank dropped as much as 6 percent following reports that the bank’s board has brought in Ernst & Young (EY) to conduct a second forensic audit. This new probe will focus on a Rs 600 crore discrepancy related to accrued interest income from the bank’s microfinance portfolio.

HDFC Bank's stock achieved the Rs 15 lakh crore-milestone, thus becoming the third Indian company to hit the level. Only Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services had achieved this milestone before HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank's shares have been on a steady uptick post the lender's March quarter results.

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