Barometers trade sideways; breadth strong

The benchmark indices were trading near the flat line in morning trade. While metal, oil & gas and banks scrips advanced, financial service and IT stocks dragged. The Nifty hovered a tad above 17,150 mark.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex fell 53.05 points or 0.09% at 57,113.69. The Nifty 50 index gained 2.80 points or 0.02% at 17,176.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.76%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.79%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 2,110 shares rose while 1,044 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 6,387.45 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3,341.96 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 April 2022, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

India recorded 1,274 new COVID-19 cases and one death on Tuesday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The active cases currently stood at 11,860 and comprised 0.03% of the total infections. The recovery rate remained unchanged at 98.76% and 928 recoveries were reported on Monday. The daily positivity rate was at 0.31% while the weekly positivity rate stood at 0.34%.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal rose 1.26% to 6,732.60. The index added 2.17% in three trading sessions.

Among the components of the Nifty Metal index, Hindustan Copper (up 5.04%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (up 3.95%), Jindal Stainless (Hisar) (up 3.09%), NMDC (up 2.62%) and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) (up 2.04%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.03%), Vedanta (up 1.65%), Tata Steel (up 1.36%), JSW Steel (up 1.35%) and National Aluminium Company (NALCO) (up 1.34%).

On the other hand, Adani Enterprises (down 0.04%) and Welspun Corp (down 0.97%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

AU Small Finance Bank jumped 4%. The lender's board will consider a bonus share issue on 26 April 2022. The board will also consider Q4 March 2022 results and recommend dividend for the financial year ended 31 March 2022.

Indraprastha Gas (IGL) gained 0.05%. The company announced the receipt of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) approval for setting up city gas distribution (CGD) network in Banda, Chitrakoot and Mahoba districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP).

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