Equity indices extend gains, Sensex rises around 400 points

New Delhi [India], June 24 : Domestic equity benchmark indices extended their gains from the previous session and rose substantially in morning session on Friday.
During the previous session, the indices closed with a gain of around one per cent in volatile trade, guided by strong buying support in auto and IT stocks.
"Today, markets are likely to get an optimistic start on firm global cues. Traders will be encouraged with a private report that the Indian economy can grow by 7-7.8 per cent this fiscal on the back of better agriculture production and a revitalised rural economy amid global headwinds mainly due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS at Hem Securities.
Traders may take note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to exporters and the industry stakeholders to fix long-term export targets for themselves and suggest ways to the government to achieve those figures, Nigam said.
At 9.37 a.m, sensex was at 52,651.98 points, up 386.26 points or 0.74 per cent, whereas nifty was at 15,687.60 points, up 130.95 points or 0.84 per cent.
Among the individual stocks, Indusind Bank, Eicher Motors, Britannia, Hindustan Unilever, and Bharti Airtel were the top five gainers among the Nifty 50 companies, while Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and BPCL the top five losers, National Stock Exchange data showed.
"There are some clear economic and market trends. Leading indicators such as PMI and retail sales in Europe and US indicate economic slowdown. Most central banks of the world are hiking rates in this slowdown. Therefore, the slowdown will continue and may aggravate pushing the US economy into recession. Since the market knows this, equities are in oversold territory, triggering short-term upmoves," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The "whipsaw movement" in Nifty yesterday reflects this uncertainty, confusion, and lack of direction, Vijayakumar added.