Indian stock market delivers over 3 pc returns in April; Nifty Bank leads with 6.83 pc gain

Mumbai, May 1 (IANS) Despite global uncertainties, the Indian stock market performed strongly in April as the Sensex rose by 3.65 per cent, while the Nifty gained 3.46 per cent during the month.

Banking stocks led the rally, with the Nifty Bank index jumping 6.83 per cent in April. Other sectors like auto, PSU banks, financial services, FMCG, and realty also performed well, each delivering over 4 per cent returns.

Midcap stocks outperformed large caps last month. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose by 4.75 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gave a return of 2.19 per cent.

Among the top gainers on the Nifty in April were IndusInd Bank, which surged 29 per cent, followed by Tata Consumer Products (16.4 per cent), Eternal (Zomato) (15.3 per cent), SBI Life Insurance (14.1 per cent), and Titan (10.3 per cent).

On the other hand, the major losers included Tata Steel, which fell 9.2 per cent, Hindalco (8.5 per cent), Wipro (7.9 per cent), Shriram Finance (6.8 per cent), and Infosys (4.5 per cent).

On Wednesday, the market ended almost flat amid global volatility and rising tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Sensex closed 46 points lower at 80,242, while the Nifty slipped slightly by 1.75 points to end at 24,334.

Investors on Wednesday showed caution ahead of the trading holiday on Thursday (May 1) for Maharashtra Day, leading to subdued trading activity.

April was the second-consecutive month of positive inflow from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in the equity cash segment. FIIs invested Rs 2,735.02 crore in April, up from Rs 2,014.18 crore in March.

Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also continued their buying spree, investing Rs 28,228.45 crore in April. However, this was slightly lower than their March investment of Rs 37,585.68 crore.

--IANS

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