FIRST TRADE: Sensex tests 63,000, Nifty above 18,650 levels; Torrent Power jumps 8%

The benchmark indices opened on a strong note on Wednesday, June 7. At the time of writing this news, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 62,972.77, up 180 points, or 0.29 per cent. The index topped the crucial 63,000 level when the trade opened. On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 index was ruling at 18,652.60, up 54 points, or 0.29 per cent. 

"Markets are likely to advance in early trade on the back of positive cues from the overnight US markets. However, the sideways movement could be seen ahead of the RBI's monetary policy outcome on Thursday, as traders would be keenly focused on the central bank's forward-looking comments on inflation, interest rate and growth expectations for the current financial year. Technically, bulls are likely to get more conviction above the Nifty's 18864 mark. On the global front, traders will await the US May consumer price index (CPI) to trickle in on June 13, as this will be the last big data point to be released before the next Fed meeting to be wired on June 14," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

BUZZING STOCKS

Torrent Power hit a 52-week high of Rs 666 on the BSE in the early morning trade after the company informed it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government for the development of three pumped storage hydro projects of 5,700 MW capacity. Va Tech Wabag also hit a 52-week high of Rs 495.90. The stock surged as the company bagged an order worth Rs 420 crore from CIDCO, Maharashtra. Meanwhile, index heavyweight TCS was trading over half a per cent higher at Rs 3,251.65, a day after the company released its annual report.

BROADER MARKET

The broader market indices were faring better than the benchmarks. The S&P BSE SmallCap index traded 0.84 per cent higher at 31,435.77 while the S&P BSE MidCap index traded 0.74 per cent higher at 27,656.41 levels.