Heavyweights power Sensex, Nifty higher; analysts await US inflation data, Q4 results

Analysts maintained their positive bias on overall markets and said that there was further scope for upside movement

The Sensex and the Nifty started April 10 trade on a positive note, supported by gains in heavyweights, a day after the equity benchmarks hit record highs but failed to hold on to the gains.

The Sensex was up 186.18 points, or 0.25 percent, at 74,869.88, and the Nifty was up 57.70 points, or 0.25 percent, at 22,700.5. The market breadth was in favour of gainers as around - 1,484 shares advanced, 705 declined and 102 were unchanged.

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Analysts said a consolidation is underway, as investors await US inflation report, expected later in the day, and fourth quarter corporate earnings season at home.

Vaishali Parekh, Senior Vice President of Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, maintained her positive bias and said there was further scope for upside movement.

"Nifty has a near-term target of 22,800 and 23,200, with a strong support zone of 22,000," she said.

On the other hand, Sameet Chavan, Head Research, Technical and Derivative - Angel One warned investors to avoid any aggressive long positions as a time-wise correction is likely in the near-term as markets remain at higher levels.

Broader indices Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 outperformed benchmark indices within the first hour of trade, rising up to 0.5 percent. Fear gauge, India VIX, slipped 0.8 percent to trade around 11.

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Sectorally, Nifty Metal and Nifty Oil & Gas were the top performers as they surged over a percent each. Nifty Metal index was led by gains in Vedanta after global brokerage firm CLSA upgraded the counter to 'buy' from 'underperform' and raised target price to Rs 390 per share from Rs 260 per share.

"Vedanta is well-placed to benefit from commodity upcycle, given its diversified exposure. The company has guided for group EBITDA to rise to $6-7.5 billion from $5 billion by FY25-27," they said.

On the flipide, profit-booking continued to weigh on pharma and technology stocks.

Global markets mixed; all eyes on US inflation report

Overnight, the US markets ended on a mixed note as investors eye US inflation report. The report is crucial for market participants as it will form Federal Reserve's viewpoint on rate policy.

While Dow Jones slipped marginally, tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite and the S&P 500 indices gained up to 0.3 percent on April 9.

According to reports, the US inflation is expected to rise to 3.4 percent in March from 3.2 percent in February, underscoring Fed's 2 percent inflation goal.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific markets largely fell this morning as Japan's corporate inflation climbed in March. Japan’s corporate inflation rate came in at 0.8 percent for March, marking its third straight month of increase.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed by a percent, and Australia's S&P 200 index was up 0.5 percent.

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