After opening the day on a strong note, Indian share markets continued their momentum throughout the trading session and had their best day in months.

Benchmark indices bounced back in style a day ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision. Gains were largely led by financials, IT, FMCG, metal, and pharma stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 582 points (up 0.9%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed up by 158 points (up 0.9%).

HDFC and ITC were among the top gainers today.

M&M and NTPC on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,625 up by 50 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets ended on a positive note with the BSE Midcap index ending 0.1% higher and the BSE Smallcap index ending 1% higher.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the FMCG sector, and the IT sector witnessing most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks from the power sector, and auto sector witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of KSB and Bosch hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note. The Nikkei fell 1.7%, while the Hang Seng was down 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.5% higher.

The rupee is trading at 82.19 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading flat at Rs 60,964 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading lower by 0.1% at Rs 74,55 per kg.
 

3 Reasons Why Indian Share Market is Rising

#1 Robust quarterly results

Indian shares traded higher on Wednesday, aided by strong quarterly updates from finance companies and banks.

#2 Index-heavyweight shares rally

Shares of index-heavyweight Bajaj Finance rallied over 3% and was among the top Nifty 50 gainers after new loans booked during the March quarter grew by 20% YoY.

Index heavyweight HDFC Bank rose over 1.5% after the company reported a 20.8% year-on-year rise in deposits to Rs 18.84 trillion (tn).

#3 Dollar takes a back seat

The rupee has been falling for quite some time now and this falling trend reversed today as it appreciated. The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 82.1 in Wednesday's trade, due to a weak dollar in overseas markets and forex inflows.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against six major currencies, meanwhile, closed 0.03% lower at 101.6.

Rupee's appreciation often attracts FIIs as it adds to the return for foreign investors.
 

Bajaj Auto's EV sales boost

In news from the automobile sector, Bajaj Auto on Wednesday reported a 2% YoY decline in total sales at 291,567 units in March as against 297,188 in the same month last year.

Total domestic sales grew 47% YoY at 186,522 units last month from 126,752 in March 2022

Exports stood at 105,045 units as compared to 170,436 units in the year-ago month, down 38% YoY.

Furthermore, Bajaj Auto's largest export market, Nigeria, has seen a remarkable turnaround in recent months.

The company has retailed 24,000 units in Nigeria for March 2023, which is a strong indication of the market's recovery.

This recovery is not limited to traditional petrol-driven vehicles but also extends to the electric vehicle (EV) space.

Bajaj Auto's electric vehicle segment saw strong sales in March 2023, and the company is optimistic about the future.

The company is planning to sell 10,000 electric vehicle units per month eventually in the next 3-6 months, which is a significant target in India's growing EV market.

The electric vehicle (EV) megatrend is a once-in-a-century revolution happening right in front of us.

The revolution has taken the auto sector by storm. All segments of the sector are ripe for disruption, and India's top EV stocks are set to benefit from this shift.
 

Coal India sets ambitious power target

Moving on to news from the mining sector, Coal India on Wednesday announced its ambitious power supply target for 2023-24.

Coal India has pegged supply to the power sector in 2023-24 at 610 million (m) tonnes to meet the demand for coal-fired power plants.

This is 23.4 m tonne more or 4% higher than the record ever 586.6 MTs that it had supplied to power plants in the just concluded financial year.

Its supplies to the power sector hit an all-time high of 586.6 million in 2022-23.

With predictions of a hot summer leading to a surge in coal demand, Coal India is getting ready to fulfill this requirement.

It will be accomplished through the availability of ample coal stocks at their pitheads and an upswing in production during the initial three months of 2023-24.

Coal India (CIL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking (PSU) under the ownership of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. The PSU contributes around 82% to the total coal production in India.

Coming to the stock performance, the share price of Coal India has eroded over 5% so far in 2023, declining 4% in the past five days alone.

Why L&T share price is rising today

Moving on to news from the engineering sector, shares of Larsen and Toubro (L&T), on Wednesday, gained 2.5% after it bagged a mega order for its hydrocarbon business.

Larsen & Toubro's Hydrocarbon Business has won several offshore packages from a prestigious client in the Middle East.

The scope of work includes engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of various new offshore facilities and their integration with existing installations.

Mega orders are worth more than Rs 70 billion (bn) according to the classification given by L&T in its release.

The company has rewarded investors with 10 bonuses over the last 7 decades and the CAGR over the last 20 years stands at an impressive 25.6%.

L&T has been an investor's favorite stock for a long time and also a stock that makes it to the top 5 infrastructure stocks.

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