Sensex extends gains for ninth consecutive days

Mumbai: Key indices of domestic equity markets ended in the positive territory after trading in the negative during the whole session today, tracking stronger cues from Asian markets. The Government's data on Thursday revealed that India's retail inflation was within RBI's target now.

BSE Sensex gained 38 points to settle at 60,431.00 while NSE Nifty surged 14 points to end at 17,826.90 on Thursday. In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng went up 34 points, Japan's Nikkei surged 74 points and China's Shanghai lost 8 points on Thursday.

In European markets, BEL dipped 6.21 points, CAC gained 65 points while Deutsche Borse lost 18 points.
In US markets, Dow Jones dipped 38.29 points, Nasdaq was trading in the positive territory and S&P 500 lost 16 points.

Retail inflation in March fell to a 15-month low of 5.66 per cent and came back to the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 6 per cent, as prices of vegetables and protein-rich items eased, showed government data released on Wednesday.
The retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.44 per cent in February 2023 and 6.95 per cent in the year-ago period. The previous low was also 5.66 in December 2021.

Yesterday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for India for the financial year 2023-24 by 20 basis points to 5.9 per cent. IMF Chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said while the global economy's gradual recovery is on track, the recent banking instability has highlighted the fragilities in the rebound story.
Jindal Steel & Power (JSP) on Thursday said it plans to commission a modern 1.2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) rail and heavy structure mill at its Angul Steel complex in Odisha. After the commissioning of the new rail mill at Angul, JSP's total rail-making capacity will be 2.2 MTPA, the company said. The shares of JSP went up 0.15 per cent to Rs 560.15 apiece on Thursday. (ANI)