Sensex, Nifty extend gains to 3rd day, Q4 results to guide stock-specific action

As corporate earnings season progresses, analysts believe stock-specific action to take place

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices traded in the positive territory on April 23 morning backed by strong global cues. As corporate earnings season progresses, analysts believe stock-specific action will take place. However, they recommend caution, given the geopolitical uncertainties and the onset of general elections.

Around morning, the Sensex was up 190.02 points or 0.26 percent at 73,838.64, and the Nifty was up 53.40 points or 0.24 percent at 22,389.80. The market breadth was in favour of gainers as around 1,963 shares advanced, 833 declined, and 94 stayed unchanged.

India VIX, which measures the near-term volatility, saw a sharp fall of 18 percent to trade around 10.42, lowest this year. Meanwhile, the BSE Smallcap index outperformed benchmark as it surged 0.6 percent within the first hour of trade.

However, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist of Geojit Financial Services recommends investors to stick with fairly valued largecaps as high valuations plague broader markets. He believes that the underlying bullish tone of the markets will continue in the near-term as FPI selling may get neutralised by aggressive domestic buying.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities forecasts Nifty to stay within 22,213-22,504 band in the near-term. "We believe that Nifty has reversed its downward trend and is now expected to head higher," he said.

Among sectors, only Nifty Metal index stood out be the loser, while all others traded with gains. Nifty Realty index was the top sectoral performer, surging over 2 percent led by DLF, Macrotech Developers, Godrej Properties, and Phoenix Mills.

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All major averages in the US market ended on a positive note overnight as investors started to buy the dip across technology names. Traders are bracing up for mega-cap earnings this week - first by Tesla on April 23, followed by Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft.

Dow Jones, tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite, and the S&P 500 indices gained up to 1 percent on April 22.

Asia-Pacific markets mimicked strong moves from Wall Street and edged higher this morning. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.1 percent, while Australia's S&P 200 was up 0.4 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.9 percent.