Bourses continue upward momentum in early afternoon session
Asian markets were trading mostly in green
Indian markets continued their upward momentum in early afternoon session following some positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders continued to monitor Q4 earnings numbers. Investors took a note of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) latest report stating that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments surged by 27.47% to $7061.60 million in March 2026 as against $5,539.75 million in March 2025. In February 2026, OFDI commitments stood at $2965.77 million. Investors ignored the Ministry of Commerce & Industry’s latest data showing that eight key infrastructure sectors’ output growth slowed to 0.4% (provisional) in March 2026 as compared to 4.5% in the same month of last year (March 2025). On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green even though Iran refused to engage in the second round of peace talks in Islamabad.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79262.60, up by 742.30 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 78522.96 and 79286.86. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.82%, Bankex up by 1.32%, Telecom up by 1.24%, Consumer Disc up by 1.11% and TECK was up by 0.90%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Trent up by 4.41%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.61%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.91%, ICICI Bank up by 1.90% and HDFC Bank up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Bharat Electronics down by 0.70%, Titan Company down by 0.36%, Reliance Industries down by 0.33% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.07% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in its latest data has showed that eight key infrastructure sectors’ output growth slowed to 0.4% (provisional) in March 2026 as compared to 4.5% in the same month of last year (March 2025). The slowed down was owed to a contraction in the output of coal, crude oil, fertilizers and electricity. For the month of February 2026, the growth rate has been revised upward to 2.8% from provisional estimation of 2.3% (released in previous month). Further, the cumulative production in the infrastructure sectors grew 2.6% (provisional) during April-March 2025-2026 (FY26) against to 4.5% in the corresponding period of last year.
Coal production having 10.33% weight decreased by 4.0% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 0.5% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight declined by 5.7% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 2.8% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63% weight declined by 24.6% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 0.1% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85% weight declined by 0.5% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index increased by 0.9% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.
On the other hand, Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight increased by 6.4% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 2.8% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight increased by 0.1% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index declined by 0.1% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Steel production having 17.92% weight increased by 2.2% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index increased by 9.1% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Cement production having 5.37% weight increased by 4.0% in March, 2026 over March, 2025, while its cumulative index increased by 8.6% during April to March, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24558.90, up by 194.05 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 24354.90 and 24570.95. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Trent up by 4.41%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.72%, ICICI Bank up by 1.89%, Adani Ports up by 1.88% and HDFC Bank up by 1.82%. On the flip side, SBI Life down by 4.35%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.89%, JIO Financial down by 0.88%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.70% and Reliance Industries down by 0.37% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 646.31 points or 1.72% to 37,605.11, Nikkei 225 surged 560.11 points or 0.94% to 59,385.00, KOSPI increased 169.38 points or 2.65% to 6,388.47, Hang Seng advanced 148.93 points or 0.56% to 26,510.00, Straits Times rose 6.08 points or 0.12% to 5,010.15 and Shanghai Composite was up by 2.95 points or 0.07% to 4,085.08. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 45.44 points or 0.6% to 7,548.67.
