Indian shares opened higher on the final trading day of the financial year 2024. The surge was led by banking and financial stocks as Sensex traded almost 800 points higher while Nifty topped 22,350 mark. Among Sensex stock, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank and Wipro opened with gains.
Sensex stocks that witnessed losses included Maruti Suzuki, HCL Tech, Titan, Tech Mahindra, and Asian Paints. Nifty PSU Bank rose 1.1%, led by IOB, Indian Bank, and Punjab & Sind Bank while Nifty Financial, FMCG, IT, Media, Metal, Pharma, and Oil & Gas saw gains in trade today. Nifty Smallcap100 gained 0.3%, and Nifty Midcap100 rose 0.05%. BHEL rose 4.6% higher after it received an order worth ₹4,000 crore from Adani Power for setting up a thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh while Cyient shares opened 3% higher after the firm announced a strategic partnership with Deutsche Aircraft.
In the global markets, Asian stocks fell ahead of a key U.S inflation reading which will present US core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data. Blue-chip CSI300 index fell to a one-month low in early trade, Shanghai Composite index was below 3000-point mark and dipped 0.1% and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.05% lower. Meanwhile, Wall Street equities closed higher as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.22%, S&P 500 gained 0.86% and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.51%. Foreign portfolio investors bought Indian shares worth ₹2,170 crore on a net basis on March 27. Domestic institutional investors purchased a net ₹1,198 core worth of stocks.