The key equity indices traded with moderate gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 22,650 mark. Pharma shares rallied after declining in the past trading session. Trading could be a volatile due to the expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.
At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 154.96 points or 0.21% to 74,629.06. The Nifty 50 index added 56.70 points or 0.25% to 22,661.55.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.88% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.28%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,914 shares rose and 1,881 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.20% to 13.54.
Economy:
Despite falling from 59.1 in March to 58.8 in April, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) signalled the second-best improvement in the health of the sector for three-and-a-half years. The PMI was comfortably above both the neutral mark of 50.0 and its long-run average (53.9).
The Indian manufacturing sector started the first fiscal quarter in a high gear, according to the latest HSBC PMI data. Firms experienced a sharp upturn in new business intakes, and scaled up production accordingly.
April's rise in raw material stocks was supported by a further increase in buying levels. Inputs were purchased to the greatest degree since June 2023. Another factor that facilitated this was suppliers' ability to deliver items in a timely manner. Vendor performance improved for the second straight month.
Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, said: “On the price front, higher costs of raw materials and labour led to a modest uptick in input costs, but inflation remains below the historical average. However, firms passed these increases onto consumers through higher output charges, as demand remained resilient, resulting in improved margins.'
Meanwhile, the Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections hit a record high in April 2024 at Rs 2.10 lakh crore. This represents a significant 12.4% year-on-year growth, driven by a strong increase in domestic transactions (up 13.4%) and imports (up 8.3%). After accounting for refunds, the net GST revenue for April 2024 stands at Rs 1.92 lakh crore, reflecting an impressive 15.5% growth compared to the same period last year.
In the month of April, 2024, the central government settled Rs 50,307 crore to CGST and Rs 41,600 crore to SGST from the IGST collected. This translates to total revenue of Rs 94,153 crore for CGST and Rs 95,138 crore for SGST for April, 2024 after regular settlement.
Buzzing Index:
The Pharma index advanced 0.88% to 19,138.40. The index fell 0.66% in the past trading session.
Biocon (up 4.32%), Sanofi India (up 3.78%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 2.06%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 1.46%) and Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 1.39%) were the top gainers.
Among the other gainers were Cipla (up 1.22%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (up 1.2%), Abbott India (up 0.84%), Ipca Laboratories (up 0.48%) and Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.4%).
Numbers to track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.39% to 7.167 from previous close of 7.195.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.4475, compared with its close of 83.4350 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2024 settlement rose 0.02% to Rs 70,740.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.03% to 105.72.
The United States 10-year bond yield advanced 0.52% to 4.616.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2024 settlement rose 72 cents or 0.86% to $84.08 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Adani Energy Solutions fell 0.87% The company said that its consolidated net profit declined 13.3% to Rs 381.29 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 439.60 crore in Q4 FY23.
Ester Industries jumped 4.81% after the company announced the signing of a joint venture agreement with Loop Industries Inc. for setting up manufacturing facility in India to produce rDMT, rMEG and speciality polymers.
TVS Motor Company rose 0.78%. The two-wheeler maker reported monthly sales of 383,615 units in April 2024, registering a growth of 25% as against 306,224 units sold in April 2023.