Barometers trade in range; breadth remains strong

The benchmark indices continued trading with modest gains in the mid-morning trade. Pharma, media and auto sectors advanced while realty stocks corrected. The Nifty was hovering above the 16,300 level.

At 11:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 206.17 points or 0.38% at 54,524.64. The Nifty 50 index rose 69.20 points or 0.43% at 16,328.50.

The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.53% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.86%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,221 shares rose and 919 shares fell. A total of 126 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.15% to 12,893.15, extending its gaining streak to the second day. The index added 2.25% in two trading sessions.

Among the components of the Nifty Pharma index, Biocon (up 4.43%), Granules India (up 3.49%), Cipla (up 1.49%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 1.4%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 1.3%) were the top gainers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NOCIL jumped 5.47% to Rs 256.55 after the company's consolidated net profit surged 85% to Rs 69 crore on a 44% jump in net revenue from operations to Rs 463 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The company said that the selling price increase continues to offset input price rise with a time lag and to compensate for the higher freight cost as well as utilities impact. It had implemented Price hikes in Q4 FY22 as announced earlier.

PI Industries jumped 3.10% to Rs 2601 after the company reported 14% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 204.4 crore on a 17% increase in revenue to Rs 1,395.2 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The revenue growth of driven by price increase of approximately 7% and balance from volume growth. While exports grew by 11% over a high base, domestic revenues jumped 47% in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21.

Jubilant Ingrevia declined 4.11% to Rs 458 after the company reported 28% decrease in consolidated net profit of Rs 69 crore in Q4 FY22 compared with net profit of Rs 95 crore in Q4 FY21. During the quarter, total revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,296 crore in Q4 FY22, reporting a growth of 20% from Rs 1,078 crore in Q4 FY21. Profit before tax (before exceptional items) stood at Rs 115 crore in the fourth quarter, down 28% during the period under review.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Wednesday following overnight comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said he's resolved to raise rates until inflation comes down.

On the macro front, Japan's economy shrank 1% on an annualized basis in January-March as compared with the previous quarter, data showed Wednesday.

Wall Street finished sharply higher on Tuesday, lifted by Apple, Tesla and other mega-cap growth stocks after strong retail sales in April eased worries about a slowing economic growth.

On the economic front, retail sales numbers came in about as expected. Consumer spending on retail rose 0.9% in April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Retail sales excluding autos rose 0.6% in April.

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