Indian equity indices ended with moderate gains on Thursday. The Nifty settled above 22,500 level after hitting the day?s low of 22,303.80 in morning trade. Private bank, IT and bank stocks advanced while oil & gas, PSU bank and FMCG stocks declined. Trading was volatile due to the expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

As per provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 350.81 points or 0.47% to 74,227.63. The Nifty 50 index added 80 points or 0.36% to 22,514.65.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 74,501.73 and 22,619, respectively in early trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.11% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.54%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,457 shares rose and 1,392 shares fell. A total of 98 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 1.34% to 11.22.

The RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kicked off its 3-day meeting deliberating interest rates and analysing the state of the economy on April 3 and will end on April 5. While the RBI is widely expected to keep rates on hold, any signals on inflation and economic growth will be closely watched, as per reports.

Economy:

The HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers' Index , compiled by S&P Global, rose to 61.2 last month from February's 60.6, pointed to one of the strongest growth rates seen in over 13-and-a-half years. The upturn was largely attributed to healthy demand conditions, efficiency gains and positive sales developments.

Ines Lam, Economist at HSBC, said, ?India?s services PMI rose in March, following a small dip in February, on the back of strong demand that spurred sales and business activity. Service providers increased hiring at the fastest pace since August 2023 in order to expand production capacity. Input costs rose at a faster rate, yet service providers were able to broadly maintain margins by charging higher output prices.?

The HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index increased to 61.8 in March from 60.6 in February, highlighting the second-strongest upturn in over 13-and-ahalf years (behind July 2023).

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Bharti Hexacom received 3,63,19,27 bids for shares as against 4,12,50,000 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:40 IST on Thursday (4 April 2024). The issue was subscribed 0.88 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday (3 April 2024) and it will close on Friday (5 April 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 542 to 570 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 26 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Private Bank index rose 1.12% to 24,012.35. The index shed 0.21% in the past trading sessions.

HDFC Bank (up 3.17%), Muthoot Finance (up 2.35%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.09%), Bajaj Finserv (up 1.07%), IDFC (up 1.04%), LIC Housing Finance (up 0.54%), Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company (up 0.35%), SBI Life Insurance Company (up 0.31%), ICICI Bank (up 0.3%) and Axis Bank (up 0.18%) advanced.

On the other hand, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (down 2.94%), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (down 2.24%) and Shriram Finance (down 1.66%) edged lower.

HDFC Bank advanced 3.17% after the Private lender's gross advances jumped 55.4% to Rs 25,08,000 crore as of 31 March 2024 as compared with Rs 16,14,200 crore as of 31 March 2023.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Dabur India slipped 4.57%. The company said that its demand trends will remained sluggish during the quarter.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank zoomed 10.01% after the bank reported 50% jump in total deposits to Rs 7,775 crore as on 31 March 2024 as against Rs 5,167 crore as on 31 March 2023.

L&T Finance Holdings added 1.15% after the company recorded retail disbursements for Q4 FY24 is estimated at approximately Rs 15,030 crore, i.e., a growth of nearly 33% on a YoY basis.

Angel One dropped 4.73%. The brokerage company announced that it its client base jumped 61.5% to 22.24 million in March 2024 as against 13.78 million recorded in March 2023.

Avenue Supermarts (DMart) rallied 4.09% after the company reported standalone revenue of Rs 12,393.46 crore in quarter ended 31 March 2024, recording a growth of 19.89% from Rs 10,337.12 crore posted in the same period a year ago.

Vedanta advanced 2.92% after the miner company informed that its total aluminum production jumped 4% to 5,98,000 tonnes in Q4 FY24 as compared with 5,74,000 tonnes in Q4 FY23.

Meanwhile, the company?s board has approved to raise 2,50,000 non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value Rs 1 lakh each aggregating upto Rs 2,500 crore in one or more tranches on private placement basis.

G M Breweries tumbled 5.11%. The breweries & distilleries company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 86.44 crore in Q4 FY24, steeply higher than Rs 35.10 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) grew by 2.49% year on year to Rs 159.85 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

Meanwhile, the firm?s board has proposed a dividend of Rs 7 per equity share for the year ended 31 March 2024. Further, the company?s board has recommended a bonus issue in proportion of 1:4.

AU Small Finance Bank gained 2.64% after the bank reported 26% increase in total deposits to Rs 87,182 crore as on 31 March 2024 as against Rs 69,365 crore as on 31 March 2023.

RBL Bank rose 0.93%. The bank?s total deposits jumped 22% to Rs 103,454 crore as on 31 March 2024 from Rs 84,887 crore recorded in 31 March 2023.

Poonawalla Fincorp shed 0.51%. The company announced that it has recorded highest ever total disbursements at Rs 9,680 crore, up 52% YoY as compared Rs 6,371 crore posted in Q4 FY23.

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced while most of Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday taking some positive cues from a mildly stronger overnight close on Wall Street. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan are closed for a public holiday.

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors digest comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell said it would take a while for policymakers to evaluate the current state of inflation, keeping the timing of potential interest rate cuts uncertain.

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