Nifty above 14,900; IT shares in demand

The key equity indices extended early gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. IT stocks rose for the fifth day. The Nifty was trading above the 14,900 mark.

At 10:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 393.67 points or 0.79% to 50,055.43. The Nifty 50 index added 117.30 points or 0.79% to 14,936.35.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.73% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.01%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1824 shares rose and 609 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 132,975,654 with 2,886,573 deaths.

India reported 910,319 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 166,862 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 1.62% to 27,266.55, extending gains for fifth day. The index has added 5.46% in five sessions.

Tech Mahindra (up 3.15%), Info Edge India (up 3.09%), Mphasis (up 2.83%), MindTree (up 1.81%), TCS (up 1.55%) and Wipro (up 1.40%), Infosys (up 1.30%), Coforge (up 1.17%), HCL Tech (up 1.11%) and Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 0.97%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Godrej Consumer Products added 0.24% to Rs 741.20. During the quarter, Godrej Consumer said demand trends in its categories across key countries, remained stable. In India, the FMCG company expects to deliver sales growth around the thirties, driven by strong volume growth and calibrated price increases. Sales growth was quite broad based across key categories of soaps, household insecticides and hair colours. The company also witnessed strong sales growth momentum in each of the months within the quarter.

The company said COVID-19 has changed consumer behaviour with regards to demand for personal and home hygiene and we see this as a strong focus area for the firm going forward. This has resulted in a broader home and personal care play ambition.

JSW Steel gained 0.93% to Rs 567.55. The steel major's crude steel production jumped 6% to 4.19 million tonnes (MT) in Q4 FY21 from 3.97 million tonnes (MT) in Q4 FY20. The company's average capacity utilisation improved to 93% for Q4 FY21 from 91% of Q3 FY21. However, the capacity utilisation during the month of March 2021 stood at 96%.

Muthoot Finance rose 2.25% at Rs 1231.65. The NBFC announced its 25th series of public issue of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value of Rs 1,000 each. The issue is with a base issue size of Rs 100 crore with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 1600 crore aggregating up to tranche limit of Rs 1700 crore. The funds raised through this issue will be utilized primarily for lending activities of the company. "The issue opens on 08th April, 2021 and closes on 29th April, 2021 with an option to close on such earlier date or extended date as may be decided by the board of directors or NCD committee, the non-banking finance company said in a statement.

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