Indian Benchmark Indices Extend Gains for Third Day Amid Easing West Asia Tensions

Benchmark indices the Sensex and the Nifty extended gains for third straight day on April 23 as fear around West Asia conflict eased and a sharp drop in volatility. Most sectors traded higher, while broader indices outperformed the benchmarks.

The Sensex was up 89.83 points or 0.12 percent at 73,738.45, and the Nifty was up 31.60 points or 0.14 percent at 22,368. The market breadth was in favour of gainers — 2,151 shares advanced, 1,353 shares declined, and 89 shares unchanged.

Analysts expect the bullish undertone to continue as the Lok Sabha elections and corporate earnings season continue.

The fear gauge India VIX saw its biggest fall in nearly five years, down 18 percent to 10.3.

Cooling volatility indicates that worries over West Asia tensions had ebbed, Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice-President of Technical Research at Religare Broking, said. He expects onset of general elections and corporate earnings season to lend support to markets in the near term.

"We expect Nifty to beat 22,600 in the next few days, followed by 22,900-23,000," Mishra said.

Among sectors, Nifty Realty was the top sectoral winner as it surged over 2 percent led by gains in DLF, Macrotech Developers, and Godrej Properties.

Telecom stocks did well too, with the BSE telecom index surging over 4 percent on the back of gains in Tejas Networks, Vodafone Idea, and Avantel. Tejas Networks stock hit a 20 percent upper circuit after delivering an upbeat fourth quarter performance.

Weakness in Sun Pharma shares due to regulatory concerns in its Dadra facility brought Nifty Pharma index down. The sector defied bullish market trends and lost 0.9 percent on April 23.

From an investing standpoint, analysts at ICICI Securities recommend to adopt a stock-specific strategy as corporate earnings season unfolds. " We reiterate our structurally positive stance, as we have seen in the past that once anxiety around such events settles down, markets tend to resume their primary up trend," they said.