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Dalal Street started the first day of the new financial year (FY23) on a strong note, as both Sensex and Nifty ended Friday’s trading session with gains of over a percent. The markets opened flat with a negative bias on weak global cues but recovered to trade in the positive area throughout the session. Sentiments got a boost with data showing that the output in eight key core sectors rose to a four-month high in February propped up by the low base effect and strong performance in steel, cement, coal, natural gas, refinery products and electricity segments. Sentiments remained positive with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India's digital economy is likely to witness exponential growth to $800 billion by 2030. Investor sentiment was also supported as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,088.73 crore on March 31.

Key gauges have enlarged their gains in late afternoon session, taking support from report that the Maharashtra government decided to lift all curbs and restrictions imposed in the state in the wake of Covid 19 from April 2. Traders also got some relief with a labour ministry’s statement that retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 5.04 per cent in February from 5.84 per cent in January this year mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. The street took a note of the finance ministry’s statement that the Union government is looking to raise Rs 8.45 lakh crore through borrowings in the first half of 2022-23 to fund the revenue gap for reviving the economy. Out of the gross market borrowing of Rs 14.31 lakh crore estimated for the next financial year, Rs 8.45 lakh crore is planned to be borrowed in the first half or April-September period. Meanwhile, the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) has indicated that the Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of February stood at 82.7 per cent of the full year budget target, mainly on account of higher expenditure. In the last financial year, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue was 76 per cent of the Revised Estimate (RE) of 2020-21.  

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, while European markets were trading higher as investors look forward to the March U.S. jobs report, due out later in the day. Economists expect the report to show employment jumped by 490,000 jobs in March after an increase of 678,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 3.7 percent from 3.8 percent. The jobs data could impact expectations regarding how quickly the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates in the months ahead. However, some concern came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia is consolidating and preparing 'powerful strikes' in the country's east and south, including besieged Mariupol.

Back home, aviation industry stocks were in focus as Jet fuel prices were hiked by 2 per cent - the seventh straight increase this year - to an all-time high, reflecting a surge in global energy prices. Real estate industry stocks were in focus with a private report stating that housing sales increased by 7 per cent year-on-year to 70,623 units during January-March across eight major cities on better demand driven by very low-interest rates on home loans, while prices appreciated by an average of 7 per cent.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 708.18 points or 1.21% to 59,276.69 and the CNX Nifty was up by 205.70 points or 1.18% to 17,670.45.      

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 59,396.62 and 58,450.04, respectively. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.39%, while Small cap index was up by 1.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 3.44%, Power up by 3.16%, Oil & Gas up by 2.73%, Realty up by 2.34% and Finance up by 2.13%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 5.93%, Power Grid Corporation up by 3.74%, Indusind Bank up by 3.20%, SBI up by 3.00% and HDFC up by 2.61%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 0.80%, Sun Pharma down by 0.72%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.59%, Titan Company down by 0.57% and Infosys down by 0.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, With rising internet penetration and increasing income, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's digital economy is likely to witness exponential growth to $800 billion by 2030. She said India has over 6,300 fintechs, of which 28 per cent are into investment technology, 27 per cent into payments, 16 per cent into lending and 9 per cent into banking infrastructure, while over 20 per cent are into other fields. She noted that so they are spread across different activities and not concentrated.

She said ‘at the same time, the digital economy in India is being pegged at $85-90 billion in the calendar year 2020 and that will see an exponential rise to $800 billion by 2030. They should be reaching $800 billion in the back drop of increased internet penetration, rising incomes and also the young Indian population’. The government has made it easier in terms of smooth and easy access to the stock markets, with technology such as e-KYC and e-Aadhaar helping the retail investors come into the market.

The total number of retail investor accounts has almost doubled from about 45 million as of March 2016 to 88.2 million by March 31, 2021. She highlighted that a 10 per cent rise in internet penetration results in an increase of 3.9 per cent in GDP per capita. Talking about push to digital economy, she said the recent Budget has announced setting up of 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs). She said ‘They may function from one place but they may serve any number of districts but we are also targeting 75 districts to be covered and I guess the DPU will promote better accessibility of banking services, affordability, convenience, and also more control over their own finances for the customers by providing a one stop digital banking account or digital banking’.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 17,703.70 and 17,422.70. There were 40 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.   

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 5.78%, BPCL up by 4.26%, Power Grid Corporation up by 3.99%, Indusind Bank up by 3.49% and HDFC up by 3.01%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.10%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.70%, Divi's Laboratories 0.61%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.42% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.41% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher;  UK’s FTSE 100 increased 15.76 points or 0.21% to 7,531.44, France’s CAC increased 39.78 points or 0.6% to 6,699.65 and Germany’s DAX increased 66.49 points or 0.46% to 14,481.24.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday despite concerns surrounding the Russia-Ukraine conflict and rising inflationary pressures. Meanwhile, oil extended overnight losses after US President ordered the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve and ahead of meeting of oil consuming nations to discuss their own reserve releases. Investors are also awaiting the March US jobs data, due out later in the day for cues on inflation and Fed's policy tightening. Chinese shares gained sharply in spite of rising Covid-19 cases in the country and the release of disappointing manufacturing data. The Caixin China purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 48.1 in March from February's 50.4. However, Japanese shares closed lower after the Bank of Japan's latest Tankan survey shows business sentiment among both major manufacturers and non-manufacturers worsened for the first time in seven quarters.

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