The headline equity benchmarks traded with robust gains in mid-afternoon trade, as investors turned their focus to a heavy lineup of earnings announcements, sectoral trends, and global cues. The Nifty traded above the 24,300 level. Private bank shares advanced after declining for three consecutive trading sessions.
At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, zoomed 970.65 points or 1.22% to 80,179.91. The Nifty 50 index jumped 271 points or 1.13% to 24,307.40.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.96% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.21%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,991 shares rose and 1,908 shares fell. A total of 192 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $8 billion to a six-month high of $686 billion in the week ended April 18 on the back of a rise in gold reserves and foreign currency assets, the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.
Foreign currency assets increased by $3.5 billion in the previous week. The rupee appreciated by 0.8% during the week.
Gold reserves increased by $4.5 billion during the week.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up $212 million to $18.5 billion. India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was also up by $7 million to $4.5 billion in the reporting week.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Private Bank index added 1.43% to 27,587.55. The index shed 0.83% in the past three consecutive trading sessions.
RBL Bank (up 10.42%), Axis Bank (up 2.12%), Yes Bank (up 2.03%), ICICI Bank (up 1.8%), Federal Bank (up 1.62%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.4%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.8%), and HDFC Bank (up 0.73%) were added.
On the other hand, Bandhan Bank (down 1.66%) and IDFC First Bank (down 0.08%) edged lower.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 1.95% to 6.487 as compared with previous close 6.360.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.0700, compared with its close of 85.4150 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2025 settlement shed 0.62% to Rs 94,411.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.44% to 102.40.
The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.02% to 4.265.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2025 settlement rose 10 cents or 0.07% to $66.94 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
IDFC First Bank shed 0.08%. The bank reported a 58.02% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 304.08 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 724.35 crore posted in Q4 FY24. Total income during the quarter increased 14.67% YoY to Rs 11,308.35 crore.
Sigachi Industries added 1.24% after the company said that its wholly owned subsidiary Sigachi MENA FZCO has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Respilon to expand into advanced drug delivery technologies.
Lloyds Metal and Energy tanked 3.03% after the company’s consolidated net profit fell 27.1% to Rs 201.88 crore on 23.49% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 1,182.66 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.
Indraprastha Gas added 4.08%. The company has reported a 9% fall in net profit to Rs 349.23 crore despite a 10% increase in net sales to Rs 3932.78 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Q4 FY24.