Sensex jumps 484 pts; metal shares shine

The headline equity indices traded with major gains in morning trade. The Nifty scaled above the 22,500 level. Metal shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading session.

At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 483.63 points or 0.66% to 74,144.12. The Nifty 50 index gained 176.55 points or 0.79% to 22,503.45.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 2.17%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,985 shares rose and 576 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

Indias forex reserves rose $140 million during the week ended March 22 to touch its all-time high of $642.631 billion, according to the latest RBI data. This is the fifth consecutive week of a jump in the overall reserves.

For the week ended March 22, the foreign currency assets decreased by $123 million to $568.264 billion. Gold reserves rose $347 million to $51.487 billion during the week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $57 million to $18.219 billion, the RBI said.

Indias reserve position with the IMF was also down by $27 million to $4.662 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.

Meanwhile, the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 6.7% (provisional) in February 2024 as compared to the Index of February 2023. The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for November 2023 is revised to 7.9%. The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to February, 2023-24 is 7.7% (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index gained 2.64% to 8,475.35. The index jumped 3.92% in the two trading sessions.

Hindustan Copper (up 8.25%), JSW Steel (up 4.72%), Welspun Corp (up 4.57%), NMDC (up 4.01%) and Vedanta (up 3.64%), National Aluminium Company (up 3.51%), Steel Authority of India (up 3.24%), Tata Steel (up 2.73%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.1%) and Hindalco Industries (up 1.77%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

G.M. Breweries surged 11.90% after said that the companys board will meet Thursday, 04 April 2024, to consider a proposal for issue of bonus shares by way of capitalization of reserves, subject to approval from members of the company.

Escorts Kubota rose 0.60% after the company said that the companys Agri Machinery Business has sold 8,587 tractors in March 2024, which is lower by 16.7% as compared with sales of 10,305 tractors recorded in March 2023.

JSW Steel rallied 4.88% after the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, JSW Vijayanagar Metallics has commissioned a hot strip mill at its integrated steel plant at Vijayanagar.

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