Indian stocks extend gains; focus now on inflation data, Q4 earnings

New Delhi: Indian stock indices extended gains from the previous week, though marginally, largely due to the pause in an interest rate hike by RBI and the latest inflow of foreign funds.
The indices extended gains for the sixth session in a row, as the central bank made a surprise decision of keeping the repo rate unchanged to assess the effects of the policy rate tightening so far. At 9.21 am, Sensex and Nifty edged in a range of 0.1-0.2 per cent. Barring Nifty FMCG, all other sectoral indices were trading in the green.
Indian stock markets were shut today on Friday for Good Friday.
"The hawkish pause delivered by the MPC against the market expectation of a dovish hike indicates that the central bank is prioritising growth now," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
"It appears that the market is bracing for a rally," Vijayakumar added.
Meanwhile, Rupee continues to remain below 82 per US Dollar. Much of the latest appreciation can be attributed to fresh foreign investments inflow in Indian stock markets, said a Mumbai-based brokerage firm.
For fresh cues, market participants await retail and wholesale inflation data for March due later this week. Also, earnings of listed Indian companies for Q4 2022-23 will also be closely tracked.
"The next week kick starts the earnings season and the two IT majors viz. TCS and Infosys and banking heavyweight, HDFC Bank, will announce their numbers. Besides, on the macroeconomic front, participants will be eyeing IIP and retail inflation on April 12 and wholesale Inflation on April 14. Apart from domestic factors, global cues and trends of foreign flows will also be in focus," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking. (ANI)