Indices trade with minor gains; Nifty above 22,950

The headline equity indices traded with small gains in early trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,950 mark. Realty, PSU bank and pharma stocks advanced while media and auto shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 103.29 points or 0.14% to 75,506.61. The Nifty 50 index rose 22.10 points or 0.11% to 22,979.20.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 75,679.67 and 23,043.20 respectively in early trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.69% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.42%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,850 shares rose and 1,210 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 944.83 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,320.32 crore in the Indian equity market on 22 May 2024, provisional data showed.

Economy

Indias forex reserves jumped $4.549 billion to a new all-time high of $648.7 billion for the week ended May 17, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

Gold reserves increased $1.244 billion to $57.195 billion during the week, the RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up $113 million to $18.168 billion, the apex bank said.

Indias reserve position with the IMF was down $168 million to $4.327 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) jumped 5.89% after the company said that it has been emerges as lowest bidder from Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Nagpur Metro) for construction of elevated metro stations in Nagpur.

NTPC rose 0.29%. The companys consolidated net profit jumped 33.22% to Rs 6,490.05 crore on 7.61% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 47,622.06 crore in Q4 FY24 over Q4 FY23. Profit before tax (PBT) grew 38.98% year on year (YoY) to Rs 8,375.12 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

Cochin Shipyard surged 6.63% after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 258.88 crore in Q4 FY24, steeply higher than Rs 39.34 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations zoomed 114.31% to Rs 1,286.05 crore in the March quarter as against Rs 600.09 crore reported in the same period a year ago.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was down 0.06% to 6.994 as compared with previous close 6.998.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.1100, compared with its close of 83.1000 during the previous trading session.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.02% to 104.70.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.14% to 4.313.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2024 settlement added 22 cents or 0.22% to $82.30 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks advanced as an easing in US consumer inflation expectations bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year.

US stocks rebounded on Friday, buoyed by news of an improving consumer outlook on inflation. The Nasdaq rose for a fifth straight week, closing at a record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up slightly, while the S&P 500 gained modestly.

University of Michigan data showed that consumers expect prices to climb at a 3.3% annual rate over the next year, down from the 3.5% expected earlier in the month. This suggests that inflation pressures may be easing, which could lead the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this year.

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