Market breadth turns negative; Nifty holds 15,400

Equity benchmarks trimmed gains in mid morning trade. The Nifty held the 15,400 mark. Metals and media shares were in demand while pharma shares corrected. The undertone of the market was positive amid upbeat Asian stocks.

At 11:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 205.95 points or 0.4% at 51,321.40. The Nifty 50 index gained 73.7 points or 0.48% to 15,411.70. The Nifty hit a record high level of 15,455.55 in early trade today.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.11% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.05%.

The market breadth turned negative. On the BSE, 1384 shares rose and 1472 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 168,771,637 with 3,507,285 global deaths.

India reported 23,43,152 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 318,895 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

GST Council meeting:

All eyes are glued to the 43rd Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting later in the day. After nearly eight months, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will chair the meeting via video conferencing at 11 am. The GST Council is likely to discuss a reduction in the tax rate on Covid medicines, vaccines and medical equipment as well as means to make up for the shortfall in revenues promised to states.

Meanwhile, the government is reportedly planning a stimulus package and direct, immediate relief for sectors such as hospitality and Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME), which are India's biggest employers and have been battered by COVID-19.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index added 1.94% to 5,141.30. The index has rallied nearly 3% in two days.

Tata Steel (up 2.92%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.7%), JSW Steel (up 2.64%), NMDC (up 2.02%) and Steel Authority of India (up 1.88%), Coal India (up 1.83%), Vedanta (up 1.49%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.44%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.05%) and National Aluminium Company (up 0.2%) climbed.

Earnings Impact:

Eicher Motors rose 1.68% after the auto maker reported 72.9% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 526.14 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with Rs 304.28 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales during the quarter increased 33.8% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,930.38 crore. Sequentially, the company's net profit declined 1.2% and net sales rose 4.3% during the quarter. EBITDA in the fourth quarter was at Rs 634 crore, up 47% as compared to Rs 432 crores in the same quarter of the previous financial year. Profit before tax in Q4 FY21 stood at Rs 688.59 crore, up by 54.1% from Rs 446.84 crore in Q4 FY20.

Gujarat Pipavav fell 2.65%. On a consolidated basis, the company reported 20.78% jump in net profit to Rs 65.39 crore on 19.45% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 193.43 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020. Profit before tax spurted 9.17% to Rs 90.19 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 82.61 crore in Q4 FY20. The Q4 earnings was declared post trading hours yesterday, 27 May 2021.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading higher on Friday after solid U.S. economic data and President Joe Biden's federal spending plans spurred a rally on Wall Street in cyclical shares.

U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, as data showing improvement in the labor market helped bolster expectations in the economic recovery and spurred a minor rotation towards stocks seen as more likely to benefit from the rebound.

On Thursday, Senate Republicans unveiled their $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to President Joe Biden's $1.7 trillion proposal. Republicans again rejected Biden's call to raise corporate taxes, contending they could cover infrastructure costs with funds already allocated by Congress or with transportation user fees.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped more than expected last week as layoffs subsided. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 38,000 to a seasonally adjusted 406,000 for the week ended May 22, the Labor Department said. That was the lowest since mid-March 2020 and kept claims below 500,000 for three straight weeks.

In a separate report, the Commerce Department left its initial estimate on first-quarter gross domestic product unchanged at 6.4%

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