Positive market breadth

Key benchmark indices were hovering near the day's high in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 215.63 points or 0.62% at 35,185.33. The Nifty 50 index was up 58.80 points or 0.55% at 10,751.10. The Sensex was trading above the psychologically important 35,000 mark after opening above that level. Positive cues from other Asian stocks boosted investors' sentiment.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.46%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.69%, outperforming the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,349 shares rose and 905 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

Yes Bank (up 2.17%), State Bank of India (up 1.98%), TCS (up 1.83%), Wipro (up 1.53%) and Tata Steel (up 1.45%), were the top Sensex gainers.

Axis Bank (down 3.41%) and ICICI Bank (down 0.23%), were the major Sensex losers.

Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 2.74%. On a consolidated basis, RIL's net profit rose 17.46% to Rs 9459 crore on 37.83% increase in net sales to Rs 116915 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 27 April 2018.

In the year ended March 2018, RIL achieved a consolidated revenue of Rs 430,731 crore ($66.1 billion), an increase of 30.5%, as compared to Rs 330180 crore in the previous year. Increase in revenue is primarily on account of higher volumes with start-up of petrochemicals projects and uptrend in prices of products in refining and petrochemical businesses. Product prices were led by 18% YoY increase in Brent oil price to $57.5/bbl. RIL's consolidated revenue was also boosted by robust growth in Retail and Digital Services business. Reliance Retail recorded a 105% surge in revenue to Rs 69,198 crore. RJIL's Wireless Telecommunication Network recorded revenue of Rs 23916 crore in its very first year of commercial operations. Exports (including deemed export) from India were higher at Rs 176117 crore ($27 billion) as against Rs 147755 crore in the previous year. Profit after tax was higher by 20.6% at Rs 36,075 crore ($5.5 billion) as against Rs 29901 crore in the previous year. Higher interest and depreciation charges with the commissioning of projects across businesses resulted in relatively lower growth in profit after tax.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher as investors focused on a mix of ebbing geopolitical tensions, robust earnings and economic data. US stock benchmarks closed out little changed on Friday, 27 April 2018, as investors expressed muted enthusiasm following strong corporate results.

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