Shares trade near day's high; auto stocks in demand

The domestic equity barometers extended gains and traded near the day's high in mid-morning trade. Shares rose across the board with autos, IT, metals and PSU banks at the the fore. The Nifty was hovering above the 14,650 mark.

At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 226.54 points or 0.46% to 49,030.22. The Nifty 50 index added 86.35 points or 0.59% to 14,667.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index, both advanced 1.30%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1752 shares rose and 820 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's merchandise exports rose 60.3% at $34.5 billion in March as compared to the same month last year, while country's imports jumped 54% to $48.4 billion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry data showed.

During the 2020-21 financial year, India's overall Merchandise and Services exports dipped 6.6% to $493.2 billion over the same period last year. Overall imports in April-March 2020-21 declined 16.5% to $505.9 billion.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 138,851,279 with 2,984,413 deaths.

India reported 1,569,743 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 174,308 deaths while 12,547,866 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.]

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 1.63% to 9,849. The index had declined 1.29% to end at 9,691.45 yesterday.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.40%), Tata Motors (up 3.01%), TVS Motor Company (up 2.61%), Hero MotoCorp (up 2%), Ashok Leyland (up 1.83%), Bharat Forge (up 1.63%), Eicher Motors (up 1.61%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.98%) and Maruti Suzuki (up 0.33%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Antony Waste Handling Cell rose 2.38% to Rs 254.10 after the economic activity in the regions serviced by the firm has seen a sequential improvement for the third consecutive quarter. The company's total operating revenue (tipping revenue from C&T and waste processing) has shown a growth of approximately 4.4% for Q4 FY21 as compared to Q3 FY21. Total tonnage handled by the collection & transportation (C&T) business (excluding those projects with fixed shifts/trips) in Q4 FY21 has reported approximately 2.1% growth over Q3 FY21. Additionally, total waste processed by the company, during Q4 FY21, has improved by approximately 2.9% as compared to Q3 FY21. Total compost sales during Q4 FY21 stood at 4,834 tons as compared to 2,291 tons in Q3 FY21.

Balaji Amines added 0.51% to Rs 1873. India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has affirmed Balaji Amines' long-term issuer rating at 'IND AA-' with a stable outlook.

Kirloskar Ferrous Industries jumped 5.31% at Rs 189.25. The company's board will consider final dividend for the financial year 2020-2021 on 5 May 2021. On the same day, the board will also consider financial results of the company for the quarter and the year ended 31 March 2021.

Global Markets:

Asian were trading higher on Friday as investors reacted to the release of Chinese economic data.

China's gross domestic product surged 18.3% in the first three months of the year from a year ago, the country's National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. The surge in growth comes off a contraction in the first quarter of last year, when the economy shrank by 6.8% during the height of the domestic outbreak of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, China's retail sales jumped 34.2% in March. Industrial production rose 14.1% in March.

In the US, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes hit record highs on Thursday, as upbeat earnings reports from companies including Bank of America and BlackRock as well as a strong rebound in March retail sales bolstered hopes of a broader economic rebound.

Retail sales surged 9.8% in March as additional stimulus sent consumer spending soaring, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. A separate report on Thursday showed that first-time filings for unemployment insurance dropped to the lowest level since March 2020. The Labor Department reported 576,000 new jobless claims for the week ended April 10.

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