Indices drift higher in early trade; breadth strong

Benchmark indices are trading higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. The Nifty is currently trading above the 16,350 level. Shares of Bharti Airtel gained in reaction to strong Q4 result.

At 9:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 362.51 points or 0.67 % at 54,680.98. The Nifty 50 index was up 103.55 points or 0.64% at 16,362.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.59% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.80%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,941 shares rose and 507 shares fell. A total of 76 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,192.44 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,294.42 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 May, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharti Airtel was up by 2.22% to Rs 723.25 after the telecom company reported a 164% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 2007.8 crore on a 22.3% in revenue from operations to Rs 31,500 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The telecom operator said rise in revenue was backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio.

DLF gained 2.14% to Rs 341.30. The real estate major reported 8% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 414 crore on 5% fall in revenue to Rs 1652 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21.

Zydus Lifesciences rose 0.59% to Rs 351.10. The pharma company said that the board of directors will consider a proposal for buyback of fully paid-up equity shares of the company.

Dr. Lal PathLabs tumbled 5.96% to Rs 2,055 after the company reported 26.5% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 61.3 crore in Q4 FY22 compared with the net profit of Rs 83.4 crore in Q4 FY21. Net sales stood at Rs 485.5 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2022 as against Rs 431 crore during the same period in the previous year, registering a growth of 12.65%.

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, government 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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