Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty wiped off initial losses and turned mildly in green on April 3 afternoon trade, supported by gains in technology and media stocks. However, broader markets outperformed frontline indices amid easing volatility.

Around noon, the Sensex was up 41.16 points or 0.06 percent at 73,945.07, and the Nifty was up 1.20 points or 0.01 percent at 22,454.50. The market breadth was in favor of gainers as about 2,450 shares advanced, 866 shares declined, and 77 shares were unchanged.

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said that the upside momentum looked restricted and Nifty needs to breach 22,460 to steer towards the positive side. "Nifty needs to float above 22,460 to further run up to 22,700 trajectory. Else, we can expect downsides to extend to 22,190," he said.

Sectoral trend

The majority of sectoral indices were trading higher on April 3 noon trade. The Nifty IT index was the top sectoral winner after CLSA hiked the target prices of Wipro, HCL Technologies, and TCS. They believe that the IT firms will guide conservatively going ahead and keep the outlook unchanged for key verticals like banking, retail, hi-tech, and telecom. On the flipside, the Nifty Realty index was the top loser as investors booked profit after a day's record high feat.

Fundamental View

Since Nifty is up 3 percent from the March lows, the market is resilient and the undertone is strong, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services. He believes that it is possible that the dips will get bought as this has been a successful strategy in India and domestic money has been calling the shots here. "Valuation comfort is in large caps," he added.

KEY NIFTY GAINERS

SHRIRAM FINANCE, TCS, DIVI'S LAB

Key Nifty losers

Nestle India, HDFC Life, Bajaj Auto

Key Sensex gainers

TCS, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank

Key Sensex losers

Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank

Stock moves

NALCO: Shares of this metal and mining company bucked the market trend on April 3, rising over 5 percent to a record high of Rs 176.25 after the state-owned firm said it clocked the highest-ever cast metal production of 4.63 lakh metric tonnes in FY24.

Adani Power: The stock hit a fresh record high on April 3 with the stock surging for the fourth straight session amid higher volumes. Adani Power hit an all-time high of Rs 611.75 on BSE, up 5 percent from the previous close. In the last four trading sessions, it gained 18.4 percent. So far this year it jumped 15.3 percent.

JSW Energy: The stock rose over 2 percent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 558 on April 3 after the company announced plans to raise Rs 5,000 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP), in one or more tranches.