Bulls tightened their grip on Dalal Street on Wednesday with frontline gauges ended near intraday high levels, reclaiming their crucial 49,700 (Sensex) and 14,850 (Nifty) levels. Indian equity benchmarks made a gap-up opening and gained strength to strength throughout the day as traders opted to buy risky assets. Sentiments remained optimistic with report that as the registration for the next phase of Covid-19 vaccinations for all above 18 years of age opens, the health ministry shared data to counter claims that vaccines in several states, including Maharashtra, were out of stock. The data showed that 150 million doses had been given to the states so far, of which 10 million were still available with them. Traders took note of the commerce ministry's statement that the country's exports of organic food products rose by 51 percent year-on-year to $1 billion (Rs 7,078 crore) in 2020-21. Markets extended rally after head of an India-centric American business advocacy group has said that America's corporate sector has stepped up its efforts to help India in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that lives are saved. Sentiments remain energized with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan's statement that India is better prepared mentally and physically this year with more experience to beat the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to 2020. Some support also came after the Cabinet has approved the signing and ratification of an Agreement between the Government of Republic of India and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Customs Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters. Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its flagship Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021 has stated that India's economy is likely to grow at 11 per cent in the current fiscal year (FY) 2021-2022, which ends on March 31, 2022. However, it cautioned that the surge in COVID-19 cases may put the country's economic recovery at risk. It added that for FY 2022-2023, India's GDP is expected to expand at 7 per cent. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 789.70 points or 1.61% to 49,733.84, while the CNX Nifty was up by 211.40 points or 1.44% to 14,864.55.   

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to maintain its ultra-easy policy. The Fed left interest rates and asset purchases unchanged even as the central bank upgraded its assessment of the US economy. The Fed once again kept the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent. The Fed also reiterated that it expects rates to remain at near-zero levels until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with its assessments of maximum employment and inflation is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time. Citing progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, the Fed noted indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened, which reflects a modest upgrade from last month, when the central bank said the indicators have turned up recently. The Fed also said the sectors most adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic remain weak but have shown improvement. After previously saying inflation continues to run below 2 percent, the Fed now acknowledges that inflation has risen but largely attributed the increase to transitory factors. It also said risks to the economic outlook remain due to the ongoing public health crisis, although that reflects an improvement from last month, when the Fed cited considerable risks to the economic outlook. Besides, traders were also reacting to the latest earnings reports from several big-name companies, including some megacap technology stocks. Shares of Alphabet moved sharply higher after the Google parent reported better than expected first quarter results and announced a $50 billion stock buyback.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday after US distillate inventories posted a large drawdown and refining activity picked up, boosting hopes for rising fuel demand. Data showing a much smaller than expected increase in US crude inventories last week also contributed to oil's advance. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories in the US rose by 90,000 barrels last week ending April 23, much less than an expected increase of 659,000 barrels. Distillate stockpiles fell by 3.3 million barrels in the week, and refining capacity use rose to 85.4% on the week. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported an extensive build in crude oil inventories of 4.32 million barrels for the week ending April 23. Crude oil futures for June rose $0.92 or 1.5 percent to settle at $63.86 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude gained $0.85 or 1.3 percent to settle at $67.27 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee ended significantly stronger for third straight session against dollar on Wednesday on selling by exporters and rally in Indian equities. Sentiments were upbeat as Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its flagship Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021 has stated that Indian economy is projected to grow at 11 per cent in the current financial year amid the strong vaccine drive. Traders took note of the commerce ministry's statement that the country's exports of organic food products rose by 51 percent year-on-year to $1 billion (Rs 7,078 crore) in 2020-21. On the global front, dollar edged higher on Wednesday as investors moved to the sidelines ahead of a US Federal Reserve policy statement and a speech by Joe Biden later in the day where the US president is set to announce more stimulus plans. Finally, the rupee ended 74.36, stronger by 30 paise from its previous close of 74.66 on Tuesday.

The FIIs as per Wednesday's data were net seller in equity segment, while net buyer in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5777.08 crore against gross selling of Rs 6886.07 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 416.44 crore with gross sales of Rs 337.46 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8.05 crore against gross selling of Rs 17.44 crore.

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates and its monthly bond-buying program steady and gave no sign it was ready to reduce its support for the recovery. Asian markets are trading higher on Thursday as US Federal Reserve decided to keep short-term interest rates near zero. Indian markets ended over 1.5 percent higher Wednesday led by banks, auto and financial stocks. Today, the start of April F&O expiry session is likely to be positive tracking gains in Asian peers. Strong earnings reports from top Indian companies may supported the sentiment on the Street amid continues pressure due to coronavirus pandemic. Traders may take note of report that The Finance Ministry has waived permissions required from any government departments for customs clearance of COVID-related relief material imported by the Indian Red Cross Society. Besides, the Union Cabinet has approved the signing of a deal between India and the United Kingdom on information sharing and preventing Customs offences. The agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure clearance of goods traded between the countries. There will be some volatility in the markets on account of the April F&O expiry. However, massive surge in coronavirus cases may dampen sentiments in the markets. India reported a massive surge of 379,459 cases and 3,647 deaths, thus marking the biggest single-day spike ever, Worldometer showed. There may be some cautiousness with ICRA's report that the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 will dampen the pace of recovery for corporate India and the contact-intensive sectors will be hit the most. However, the impact of the second wave on many sectors is set to be lower than the first because the lockdowns are less widespread and stringent as of now as against the strong nationwide lockdown last year which brought all economic activities to a grinding halt. Meanwhile, India has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of a chemical used in foam making from four regions, including the EU and Saudi Arabia, for five years to guard domestic players from cheap shipments. Auto industry stocks will be in focus as the NITI Aayog recommended the government provide subsidy for electric vehicle purchase over and above the existing subsidy scheme for electric vehicle adoption under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing the Electric Vehicles scheme besides including EVs under priority lending sector. Besides, PowerGrid Infrastructure Investment Trust's initial public offer will open for subscription today. The company has fixed a price band of Rs 99-100 per unit for its Rs 7,735 crore IPO. It raised a little over Rs 3,480 crore from anchor investors ahead of the IPO offer. There will be some important earnings announcements too to keep the markets buzzing.

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

Nifty Top volumes

• Coal India's three subsidiaries are considering installing oxygen generation plants to tide over the shortage of the lifesaving gas, as country is facing oxygen shortage. 
• Cipla has signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement with MSD a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc. Kenilworth, NJ., USA for the manufacturing and distribution of Molnupiravir. 
• Hero MotoCorp and Harley-Davidson, the legendary motorcycle manufacturer, have declared the H-D 2021 Model Year Pricing. 
• HCL Technologies and IBM Security have collaborated to help unify and streamline threat management for clients via a modernised security operation center platform.