Key indices extend gains; Sensex jumps 673 pts, Nifty nears 17,800 level

The key equity indices extended gains and hit fresh intraday highs in morning trade. The Nifty marched towards the 17,800 level. Metal shares rose for second consecutive session.

At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 673.36 points or 1.13% to 60,482.33. The Nifty 50 index added 197.15 points or 1.12% to 17,791.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.21%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2352 shares rose and 891 shares fell. A total of 185 shares were unchanged.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated on Monday as a weaker-than-expected GDP forecast from China dented some optimism over a recovery in crude demand this year.

Focus this week is also squarely on a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, which is expected to shed more light on where U.S. interest rates could go this year.

Economy:

The government, in the latest review, has hiked the windfall profit tax levied on crude petroleum to Rs 4,400 per tonne from Rs 4,350. The special additional excise duty on diesel has been reduced to Rs 0.5 a litre from Rs 2.5, while it has been slashed to 'nil' on Aviation Turbine Fuel. The new tax rates come into effect from 4 March 2023.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 1.98% to 5,779.90. The index has added 5.60% in two sessions.

Adani Enterprises (up 12.84%), Jindal Stainless (up 5.78%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.24%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.91%) and Vedanta (up 1.4%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Welspun Corp (up 1.13%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.8%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.58%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.58%) and MOIL (up 0.29%).

On the other hand, Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.64%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (down 0.3%) and JSW Steel (down 0.13%) moved lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) rose 1.48%. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has given approval for the amalgamation of HDFC Property Ventures and HDFC Venture Capital with HDFC Capital Advisors, a subsidiary of HDFC.

Hindustan Aeronautics added 1%. The company has received Income Tax Refund Order from the Office of Joint Commissioner of Income Tax (OSD) for the Assessment Yeas 2012-13. The order has allowed R&D expenditure of Rs 725.98 crore as capital expenditure, resulting in refund of Rs 570.05 crore. The above refund of Rs 570.05 crore includes of interest Rs 163.68 crore.

Krsnaa Diagnostics gained 0.85%. The company announced that it has operationalized diagnostics center at Fazilka, Punjab. This is part of the agreement with the Government of Punjab for procurement, operation and maintenance of 25 CT scanners, 6 new MRI machines, 30 pathological laboratories, 1 referral laboratory and 95 collection centers across the State of Punjab.

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