Domestic equity benchmarks ended with decent gains on Friday, rising for the fourth day in a row. The positive global cues propelled Indian equity indices into the green, leading to a sustained upward trend throughout the session, with Nifty consistently remaining above the 22,000 mark. Auto, IT and pharma shares were in demand, while oil & gas, PSU banks declined.
The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 376.26 points or 0.52% to 72,426.64. The Nifty 50 index added 129.95 points or 0.59% to 22,040.70.
M&M (up 3.96%), Larsen & Toubro (up 2.68%) and Infosys (up 1.48%) boosted the indices.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.78% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.68%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2194 shares rose and 1659 shares fell. A total of 82 shares were unchanged.
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The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper added 0.14% to 7.095 as compared with previous close 7.085.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.0125, compared with its close of 83.0500 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement rose 0.11% to Rs 61,689.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.08% to 104.38.
The United States 10-year bond yield gained 0.75% to 4.270.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2024 settlement slipped 91 cents or 1.10% to $81.95 a barrel.
Global Markets:
European and Asian stocks advanced across the board on Friday, boosted by overnight gains on Wall Street. Japans Nikkei 225 hit a fresh 34-year high.
Mainland China markets remain closed for the Chinese New Year holidays.
US stocks closed higher on Thursday as retail sales data declined more than expected, feeding hopes the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates in coming months.
US retail sales fell more than expected in January. Retail sales dropped 0.8% last month, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Thursday. Data for December was revised lower to show sales rising 0.4%, instead of 0.6% as previously reported.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Mahindra & Mahindra soars 4% after inking supply agreement with Volkswagen. Mahindra will equip a certain range of its electric platform INGLO with electric components of Volkswagens MEB and unified cells. Both companies continue to explore further potential opportunities for collaboration in India in the field of e-mobility.
ITC stock briefly fell below Rs 400 due to concerns about British American Tobacco (BAT) planning to sell a 4% stake, aiming to reduce its ownership from 29.03% to 25% by offloading about 50 crore shares, valued at approximately Rs 20,000 crore. BAT has reportedly enlisted the help of Wall Street banks like Bank of America and Citi for the transaction.
TVS Motor Company rallied 2.16% after the company announced that it has acquired 28.57% stake in the Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) for Rs 2.5 crore.
B.L.Kashyap and Sons rose 1.67% after the company announced that it has secured new order worth approximately Rs 208 crore from Manyata Promoters.
Dilip Buildcon rose 0.65% .The company announced its joint venture (JV), VKMCPL-DBL has emerged as the lowest bidder (L-1) for construction project in Madhya Pradesh worth Rs 412.92 crore.
Indian Hume Pipe fell 0.12%. The company received letter of intent from Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation Jalgaon, Maharashtra for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project worth Rs 495.04 crore.
Axis Bank shed 0.31%. The bank said that the former Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against the Axis Bank-Max Life deal, accusing the private bank of a scam of Rs 5,100 crore. Swamy has demanded an investigation by an expert committee, alleging that the bank got undue benefit from the deal. In the petition, he raised questions about Axis Bank's transactions in Max Life. He also raised questions about the role of the Axis Bank chairman in the deal. Swamy has demanded the court make strict rules to prevent further scams.
New Listing:
Shares of Entero Healthcare Solutions closed at Rs 1,149.50 on the BSE, representing a discount of 8.62% as compared with the issue price of Rs 1,258.
The scrip was listed at Rs 1,245, exhibiting a discount of 1.03% to the issue price. The stock has hit a high of 1,258 and a low of 1,141.80. On the BSE, over 1.38 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.
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