The benchmark indices hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade, buoyed by strong demand in banks and oil & gas stocks. The Nifty continued to trade above 17,500 level.
At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex rose 222.04 points or 0.38% at 58,790.55. The Nifty 50 index gained 61.45 points or 0.35% at 17,526.20.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.81%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.33%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, shares 2,521 rose and 673 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,088.73 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,145.28 crore in the Indian equity market on 31 March 2022, provisional data showed.
Economy:
India's current account deficit (CAD) increased to $23 billion (2.7% of GDP) in Q3:2021-22 from $9.9 billion (1.3% of GDP) in Q2:2021-22 and $2.2 billion (0.3% of GDP) a year ago [i.e., Q3:2020-21]. The widening of CAD in Q3:2021-22 was mainly on account of higher trade deficit, as per the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 31 March 2022.
India's fiscal deficit in February-end stood at 82.7% of the revised estimates in Budget, according to official data released by the government on Thursday. The fiscal gap was at Rs 13.17 lakh crore.
In April-February, net tax receipts were Rs 14.81 lakh crore while total expenditure was Rs 31.44 lakh crore, the data showed. The revenue gap came in at Rs 8.7 lakh crore, while spending was at Rs 31.4 lakh crore.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index fell 0.12% to 36,275.35. The index lost 0.51% in two trading sessions.
Coforge (down 0.93%), Infosys (down 0.90%), Mphasis (down 0.60%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.27%) and MindTree (down 0.09%) were the top losers in the IT segment.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose 0.05%. TCS on Thursday informed that a meeting of the board of directors will be held on 11 April 2022 to consider and approve the audited standalone as well as consolidated financial results for the quarter and year ending 31 March 2022. The board will also recommend a final dividend, if any for the financial year ending 31 March 2022.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Cantabil Retail India rallied 7.77%. The company, after market hours on Thursday announced that it has opened three new showrooms and shops at different locations in India. Post opening of these showrooms, the company's total count stands at 378 stores.
Biocon gained 1.26%. Biocon Biologics' partner received positive EU CHMP opinion for biosimilar human insulin for intravenous infusion. Biocon Biologics (BBL), a subsidiary of Biocon, said that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (EU CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorisation for Inpremzia, a biosimilar version of Actrapid (human insulin). This is a ready-to-use insulin formulation for intravenous (IV) infusion developed by Celerity Pharmaceuticals LLC (Celerity), using Biocon Biologics' biosimilar human insulin drug substance.
Lupin rose 1.51%. The pharma major after market hours on Thursday announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Novel Laboratories based in Somerset, New Jersey (USA) received thirteen observations from USFDA. The facility underwent a USFDA inspection from 7 March 2022 to 30 March 2022. Lupin assured of addressing these observations and said it will work closely with the agency to address their concerns. Furthermore, the company said that observations will not have an impact on disruption of supplies or the existing revenues from operations. The facility contributes less than 5% of the company's global revenues. The drug maker assured to be compliant with good manufacturing practice standards across all its facilities.
Global Markets:
Most Asian stocks were trading lower on Friday, following overnight losses on Wall Street as a private survey showed Chinese manufacturing activity shrank in March.
China's Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 48.1, below the 50-level that separates growth from contraction. That compared against the previous month's reading of 50.4. Friday's reading was also the lowest since February 2020.
Sentiment at Japan's large manufacturers soured in the three months to March, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan business sentiment survey. The headline index for large manufacturers' sentiment came in at 14, a decline from the previous quarter's reading of 17.
US stocks slumped on Thursday as concerns persisted about the continuing conflict in Ukraine and its inflationary effect on prices and the Federal Reserve's response.
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