The domestic equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in early trade. The Nifty traded above 22,250 mark. All the sectorial indices on NSE were in the green with PSU bank, realty and pharma shares gaining the most.
At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 324.79 points or 0.44% to 73,408.24. The Nifty 50 index added 115.40 points or 0.52% to 22,262.40.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.90% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.20%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,380 shares rose and 532 shares fell. A total of 117 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 129.39 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 52.50 crore in the Indian equity market on 19 April, provisional data showed.
Economy:
India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves declined $5.401 billion to $643.162 billion during the week ended April 12, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, overall reserves had risen $2.88 billion to a new high of $648.562 billion.
For the week ended April 12, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $6.513 billion to $564.653 billion, according to the data released on April 19.
Gold reserves continued their rise and increased by $1.241 billion to $55.798 billion during the week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down $93 million to $18.077 billion, the RBI said.
India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $35 million to $4.634 billion in the reporting week, the central bank data showed.
Stocks in Spotlight:
HDFC Bank shed 0.28%. The bank said that its net profit jumped 37.06% to Rs 16,511.85 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 12,047.45 crore posted in Q4 FY23. Total income jumped 66.46% YoY to Rs 89,6939 crore as compared with Rs 53,850.54 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year.
Wipro advanced 1.06% after the IT major's consolidated net profit grew 5.21% to Rs 2,834.6 crore in Q4 FY24 as against Rs 2,694.2 crore recorded in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations rose marginally to Rs 22,208.3 crore in the March quarter as against Rs 22,205.1 crore reported in the preceding quarter same year.
Jio Financial Services added 2.16% the company reported a net profit of Rs 310.63 crore in Q4 FY24 as against a net profit of Rs 293.82 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Total income rose to Rs 418.10 crore from Rs 414.33 crore.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.18% to 7.238 as compared with previous close 7.225.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee is edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.4300, compared with its close of 83.4400 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2024 settlement fell 0.83% to Rs 72,204.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.08% to 106.08.
The United States 10-year bond yield grew by 1.04% to 4.664.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2024 settlement slipped 68 cents or 0.78% to $ 86.61 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Most of the Asian stocks were trading higher on Monday as the focus shifted from Middle East tensions to company earnings and economic data for insight into the direction of central bank policy. Investors look to fresh data points out of China, Japan and South Korea this week.
China’s central bank left its one- and five-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.45% and 3.95%, respectively on Monday. The one-year LPR is seen as the peg for most household and corporate loans, while the five-year LPR is the benchmark for most property mortgages.
In US, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed sharply lower on Friday as investors juggled lackluster earnings, uncertainties surrounding central bank policy and geopolitical strife.