After opening the day flat, share markets in India witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day and ended the day in the green. Sectoral indices too ended the day in green, with stocks in the power sector and stocks in the infra sector leading the gains.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 115 points (up 0.4%) and the NSE Nifty closed up by 33 points (up 0.3%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day up 0.9%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up by 1.4%.

Asian stock markets finished mixed. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite was down by 0.8%. The Nikkei 225 was down by 0.5%. Meanwhile, European markets were trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was down by 0.1%, The DAX, was down by 1% while the CAC 40 was down by 0.5%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 65.04 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 63.32 at the time of writing.

In news from the manufacturing sector. Activity in India’s manufacturing sector expanded at its weakest pace in five months in March as order and production growth slowed, discouraging firms from hiring.

The PMI is the reading of the country’s manufacturing sector output and is updated monthly. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while any score below the mark denotes contraction.According to the Nikkei Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey by Markit, India’s manufacturing continued to slow down the pace of expansion in March after growing marginally in February.

PMI in March stood at 51, a decline from the 52.1 reading in February, however indicating an expansion. Notably, the PMI reading in March was its lowest point since October last year, owing to slowing demand across the sector.

Manufacturing Activity Continues Expansion in September

Orders softened despite manufacturers keeping price increases to a minimum, suggesting retail inflation will remain near the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4% and reinforcing views it will hold interest rates steady this year.