Benchmarks at the high point of the day

The domestic equity barometers were currently at the day's high in afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading above the 17,350 mark. IT, auto, financials and oil & gas stocks advanced.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex was up 752.84 points or 1.32% to 57,790.34. The Nifty 50 index surged 216.85 points or 1.27% to 17,353.40.

Adani Ports (up 3.52%), Coal India (up 3.51%), Bajaj Finserv (up 3%), Asian Paints (up 2.66%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.35%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Cipla (down 1.02%), JSW Steel (down 0.96%), Tata Steel (down 0.95%), ONGC (down 0.40%) and Hindalco (down 0.29%) were the top Nifty laggards.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.96% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.28%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 2,282 shares rose while 1,060 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Nestle India shed 0.31% to Rs 18256.50. The FMCG company's net profit fell 1.25% to Rs 594.7 crore in quarter ended March 2022 as compared to quarter ended March 2021. Net sales jumped 9.7% to Rs 3,950 crore in quarter ended March 2022 from Rs 3,600 crore posted in quarter ended March 2021.

Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 2.39% to Rs 2783.50. Reliance Brands (RBL) has signed a definitive agreement to invest in India's foremost Couturiers Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla (AJSK) for a 51% majority stake. The strategic partnership is aimed at accelerating the 35-year-old couture house's growth plans in India and across the globe.

Reliance Brands is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures, which is a subsidiary of RIL.

Tata Elxsi gained 1.51% to Rs 7925.90. The design led technology service provider reported 38.95% rise in net profit to Rs 160.01 crore on 31.51% increase in revenues from operations to Rs 681.73 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021.

Angel One surged 6.08% to Rs 1723.85. The company's consolidated net profit doubled to Rs 204.7 crore in Q4 FY22 from Rs 101.9 crore in Q4 FY21. Total Revenue from operations increased by 64.3% YoY to Rs 671.3 crore during the quarter.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe mostly advanced on Thursday as investors continued to monitor the developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine remains at the forefront of market participants' minds in Europe, with the second phase of the conflict, focusing on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, fully underway now.

Russia has set a new ultimatum for surrender in the heavily destroyed city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces and reportedly hundreds of civilians are holed up in the Azovstal steel plant. Meanwhile, officials in Ukraine continue to call for more weapons support and faster delivery as Russia intensifies its bombardment of the Donbas.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy if they would take meetings with him in their respective capitals.

Asian markets traded mixed on Thursday as investors continue to watch China's Covid situation along with moves in the Japanese yen.

Investors looked out for signs of policy support from Chinese authorities as the mainland continues to grapple with its most severe Covid wave since the initial outbreak in 2020. Its strict zero-Covid policy has raised questions about China's economic outlook.

US stocks ended in mixed territory on Wednesday as the tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged down by bleak Netflix earnings, while bond yields dipped after a recent strong run. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on the back of strong earnings from Procter & Gamble.

Netflix fell 35% after its quarterly results showed a loss of 2,00,000 subscribers in the first quarter, its first reported subscriber loss in more than 10 years.

The Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, which said U.S. economic activity has expanded at a moderate pace since mid-February. The Fed noted consumer spending accelerated among retail and non-financial service firms, as Covid-19 cases tapered across the country.

Manufacturing activity was also described as "solid overall," although the Fed said labor market tightness and elevated input costs continued to pose challenges on firms' abilities to meet demand.

According to a report released by the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales slumped by 2.7% to an annual rate of 5.77 million in March after plunging by 8.6% to a downwardly revised rate of 5.93 million in February.

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