SENSEX up 200 pts, NIFTY50 above 22,700, Metal stocks shine

Benchmark indices opened in the positive territory on Wednesday, with SENSEX and NIFTY50 gaining 0.36% and 0.34%, respectively.

Out of the NIFTY50 space, 33 stocks are advancing. Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, JSW Steel, BPCL and Reliance are the top gainers, while Divis Lab, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Britannia and Adani Ports were top losers in the morning trade.

Gains in heavyweight stocks like Reliance Industries (+1.1%), Kotak Bank (+1.4%), ICICI Bank (+0.6%) supported the benchmark indices.

Experts believe the market is going through a consolidation phase ahead as investors await the US inflation report and Q4 earnings season to start. TCS will kickstart the Q4 result season with result announcement on 12 April.

In the previous month, annual inflation in the US accelerated to 3.4% from 3.2% in February, rising for the second straight month. Inflation data is crucial as the US Federal Reserve takes inflation numbers into consideration before deciding interest rates.

Sectoral indices on the NSE opened higher, with NIFTY Oil and Gas (+1.8%), Metal (+1.40%) and PSU Bank (+0.80%) leading the gains. Similarly, NIFTY Bank is trading 0.31% or 149 points higher at 48,879.

NIFTY Metal index continues to gain for a second straight day supported by gains in Vedanta (+6.6%), Hindalco (+1.8%), NMDC (+6.0%).

Broader markets are mixed. NIFTY Midcap 100 opened with 0.36% gains, while NIFTY Smallcap 100 was trading 0.29% higher.

PB Fintech jumps over 7%

On the stocks front, shares of PB Fintech jumped more than 7% to hit a 52-week-high following the incorporation of a wholly-owned subsidiary PB Pay Private Limited.

Oriana Power shares rose by over 6% after it received a 76.62 MW solar power plant contract worth ₹325 crore.

Shyam Metalics shares gained 1.7% to ₹630 after the company established a new stainless steel hot rolled coils facility at its Sambalpur plant.