Key Indian stock indices extended gains on Thursday, May 21, closing higher for the third straight session. Notably, sentiment was bolstered by the Indian government’s move to relax some Covid-19 containment measures. In particular, domestic air and rail travel will resume on May 25. Moreover, the market drew support from an earlier positive close in US equities as investors expect a global economic recovery to begin before long. By the close, the BSE Sensex 30 rose 0.37% to 30,932.90, and the Nifty 50 added 0.44% to 9,106.25. On the FX market, the USD/INR pair settled fractionally lower at 75.544, while EUR/INR edged down 0.06% to 82.8840. The 10-year Indian government bond yield narrowed 0.7 bps to 6.033%. In sectoral terms, metals, media and consumer names posted the biggest gains, while financial and business services stocks were out of favor. In the blue-chip universe, ITC, Hindalco Industries, Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki advanced 3.1-7.1%. On the other side of the spectrum, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, IndusInd Bank and Adani slipped 2.0-3.6%. In technical terms, the BSE Sensex 30 has retraced within a side trend of 30,000-32,000 after testing its lower bound three days earlier. Notably, the chances are even for the benchmark to move either upward or downward within the current formation. Going forward, should a breakout to the downside occur, the next target will be at 28,000. If the opposite scenario materializes, the benchmark will likely head further north towards 34,000.