Market extends gains; media shares advance

The key equity indices continued to extend gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 17,400 level. Media shares advanced for the second straight day.

At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 442.85 points or 0.75% to 59,404.97. The Nifty 50 index added 142.20 points or 0.82% to 17,446.15.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.24% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.28%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,420 shares rose and 1,020 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's GDP or gross domestic product slowed to 4.4 per cent in the October-December quarter 2022, primarily due to a 1.1 per cent contraction in manufacturing, along with weaker private consumption demand and government expenditure, according to the second advance estimates released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Tuesday.

For the full financial year 2022-23, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has retained the growth estimate at 7 per cent in the second advance estimates. According to the first advance estimates released last month, the GDP growth was pegged at 7 per cent for 2022-23. In financial year 2021-2022, India's economy grew at 8.7 per cent.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was at 55.3 in February, little-changed from 55.4 in January and signaling a strong improvement in the health of the sector. The headline figure was also above its long-run average of 53.7.

India's core sector output, comprising eight sectors including coal and electricity accounting for nearly 40 per cent of industrial output, jumped 7.8 per cent in January 2023, the official data showed yesterday. The production of fertilizers, coal, electricity, steel, natural gas, cement and refinery products increased in January 2023 over the corresponding month of last year.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced to 7.460 from 7.457 in previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.4950, compared with its close of 82.58 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement added 0.10% to Rs 55,814.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.35% to 104.50.

The United States 10-year bond yield jumped 1.20% to 3.961

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement rose 60 cents or 0.72% to $84.05 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index advanced 1.67% to 1,733.25. The index rose 4.13% in two trading sessions.

Dish TV India (up 8.63%), New Delhi Television (up 5%), Sun TV Network (up 2.13%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 1.43%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 1.32%), Network 18 Media & Investments (up 0.86%), PVR (up 0.7%) and TV18 Broadcast (up 0.63%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Indoco Remedies rose 0.25%. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had conducted good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspection at company's sterile facility (plant 2) and OSD facility (plant 3) at Goa. The inspection was conducted from 20 February 2023 to 28 February 2023. The USFDA has issued Form 483 with four observations.

Rainbow Children's Medicare declined 1.15%. The company commenced a new 100 bed hospital in Hyderabad's financial district. With this, the company's total bed capacity stands increased to 1,655 beds.

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