Taking Stock | FY23 off to a flyer; Sensex up 700 points, Nifty above 17,600

Taking Stock | FY23 off to a flyer; Sensex up 700 points, Nifty above 17,600

The Indian equity benchmark made an impressive start to the financial year 2022-23, gaining more than a percent on April 1 backed by the bank, power, oil & gas and realty names.

The BSE Sensex touched a high of 59,396.62 before closing at 59,276.69, up 708.18 points, or 1.21 percent, while the Nifty scaled the high of 17,703.and ended at 17,670.50, up 205.70 points, or 1.18 percent.

The market opened flat with a negative bias on weak global cues but recovered to trade in the positive area throughout the session and closed near the day's high. The March GST collections of Rs 1.42 lakh crore, positive European markets and recovery in the Asian markets also boosted the sentiment.

"Indian equity markets gave positive returns this week. Globally, too, equity markets remained broadly resilient led by optimism on progress in Russia-Ukraine negotiations," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

Commodities saw some correction from the recent highs. In India, markets saw broad-based gains, with most sectoral indices giving positive returns, he said.

"Crude oil prices corrected this week and that is some positive for import-dependent countries, including India. Commodity price movements, inflation numbers and central bank policy decisions are few key