FI Bullets – April 2024Insights

May 16, 2024

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In the month of April, with the start of the new financial year, Nifty made a new all-time high of 22,783.35 and also surged 1.24% adding 277.95 points. Likewise, the BSE Sensex added 831.43 points gaining 1.13%, crossing 75,000 marks for the first time. April has been a roller coaster for Indian equities. On the sectoral front, the Metal & Banking stocks outperformed the benchmark Nifty in the month of April 2024 with initial strong quarterly earnings from private banks like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank that account for one-third of Nifty weightage, lifted investor sentiment. The Metal index gave a whopping return of 11.12% and the BankNifty gave a return of 4.82%.

Sentiments remained positive with a survey showing that India’s business activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly 14 years in the month of April thanks to robust demand. It also showed easing input inflation and positive job growth. The easing tensions between Israel and Iran supported the buying sentiments at Dalal Streets.

India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in gross terms hit a record high in April 2024 at Rs 2.1 lakh crore. This represents a 12.4 percent year-on-year growth. The GST collection in April has traditionally been higher (the previous highest GST collection was also achieved in April 2023), given that it reflects the economic activity in the month of March, which is the last month of the fiscal year. Traders also took encouragement from the RBI stating that India’s current account deficit declined to $10.5 billion or 1.2 percent of the GDP in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal from $11.4 billion in the previous three months and $16.8 billion a year back.