Benchmarks trade higher; metal stocks shine

The main equity indices traded with decent gains in morning trade. The Nifty traded near the 15,300 mark. Metal stocks witnessed value buying while banks stocks corrected. The moderation in daily new COVID-19 cases in India improved investors' risk appetite. Upbeat Asian stocks also boosted sentiment.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 194.16 points or 0.38% at 50,846.16. The Nifty 50 index was up 73.05 points or 0.48% at 15,270.45.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.54% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was gained 0.78%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1897 shares rose and 820 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 167,116,334 with 3,469,589 global deaths.

India reported 25,86,782 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 307,231 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. In last 24 hours, India recorded 1,96,427 new cases and registered 3,511 deaths.

Results Today:

Alkem Laboratories (up 0.77%), Emami (up 0.94%), Bajaj Electricals (up 0.93%), Bayer Cropsciences (up 0.96%), CAMS (up 1.08%), AIA Engineering (up 1.34%), AstraZeneca India (up 0.84%), Gati (down 1.38%), Godawari Power (up 2.89%), Igarashi Motors (up 0.75%), Indoco Remedies (up 1.31%), Polyplex Corporation(up 1.78%), Ramco System (up 2.31%), Thermax (up 1.46%) and VIP Inds (up 1.14%) will announce their Jan-March quarter earnings today.

Laxmi Organic Industries (up 2.19%) and Stove Kraft (down 0.75%) will announce their first ever quarterly result after listing on bourses.

Earnings Impact:

Barbeque-Nation Hospitality climbed 7.29% to Rs 686.25 after the company's consolidated net profit stood at Rs 6.40 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 27.89 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales jumped 18.52% to Rs 226.34 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 190.96 crore in Q4 FY20. Pre-tax profit stood at Rs 8.32 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 37.03 crore in Q4 FY20. Reported EBITDA grew 128% to Rs 56.10 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 24.60 crore over the same period last year. EBITDA margin improved to 24.8% in Q4 March 2021 from 12.9% in Q4 March 2020. Same Store Sales Growth (SSSG) stood at 19.9% in Q4 FY21 compared with negative SSSG of 16.7% in Q4 FY20. Restaurant operating margin rose 151% YoY to Rs 46.4 crore in Q4 FY21. The delivery revenue stood at Rs 28.5 crore, jumping 471% Y-o-Y.

Mahanagar Gas rose 2.87% to Rs 1173.90 after the company reported 27.72% jump in net profit to Rs 212.77 crore on a 4.53% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 717.66 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. The company's total sales volume rose 2.11% to 260.25 SCM (standard cubic metre) million in Q4 FY21 from 254.87 SCM million in Q3 FY21. While the city gas distributor's CNG volumes jumped 5.12% to 182.14 SCM million, the PNG volumes have declined by 4.29% to 78.11 SCM million in Q4 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index jumped 2.18% to 5,178.95. The index fell 0.60% in the previous session.

JSW Steel (up 4.28%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 4.07%), Tata Steel (up 2.5%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.4%) and Hindalco Industries (up 1.96%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.79%), National Aluminium Company (up 1.71%) and Vedanta Ltd (up 1.42%) climbed.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News