Nifty hovers above 17,300; European shares advance

The domestic equity barometers further extended gains in the afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 17,300 level. All the sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the green with oil & gas, IT and private bank shares gaining the most.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 873.9 points or 1.51% to 58,833.99. The Nifty 50 index gained 236.95 points or 1.39% to 17,317.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.01% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.46%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 2,517 shares rose and 942 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.

Investor sentiment was upbeat as concerns of further banking turmoil receded. However, markets remained cautious following a higher-than-expected German CPI, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to further tighten monetary policy.

Gainers & Losers:

Reliance Industries (up 4.18%), ICICI Bank (up 3.33%), Nestle India (up 2.88%), Infosys (up 2.38%) and Tata Motors (up 2.21%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.56%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (down 0.41%), Bajaj Finance (down 0.25%), Titan Company (down 0.24%) and Asian Paints (down 0.16%) were the top Nifty losers.

Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 4.18%. The company initiated the process of demerging its financial services business.

RIL has convened a meeting of creditors and shareholders on 2 May 2023 to seek their approvals for demerging its financial services business into a separate entity and subsequent listing it on the stock exchanges. The voting will commence on 27 April 2023 and end on 1 May 2023, RIL said in a regulatory update. The conglomerate`s board had approved the demerger in November 2022.

At present, Reliance Strategic Investments (RSIL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL and is an RBI-registered non-deposit-taking systemically important non-banking financial company. Post demerger, RSIL will be rechristened to Jio Financial Services (JFSL).

According to the contours of the deal, RIL will issue one share of the demerged company with a value of Rs 10 each for every one share held in RIL. The appointed date for the demerger is 31 March 2023. Upon the scheme becoming effective, the name of the demerged firm will be changed to JFSL and the new firm will be listed on the Indian bourses.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Power Company gained 2.13% after the company said that its board has approved the re-appointment of Dr. Praveer Sinha as the CEO & managing director (MD) of the company for a period of four years effective from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2027.

JSW Steel rose 1.39%. The company has been declared as a �Preferred Bidder� for an auction of two coal mines in Chattisgarh and one in Jharkhand.

Bharat Electronics zoomed 6.13% after the company secured 12 contracts worth of Rs 8,194 crore from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Tata Consumer Products rose 1.43%. The FMCG major on Wednesday announced that its board has approved the re-appointment of L Krishnakumar as whole-time director designated as executive director and Group CFO, for a seven-month term, effective from 1 April 2023.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Friday as technology stocks continued to see renewed interest and led gains on Wall Street, with some shaking off concerns of a further banking crisis.

US stocks rose on Thursday as investors are looking towards more clarity from US regulatory agencies on struggling banks and shares of technology and bank stocks mostly remained flat.

President Joe Biden urged federal regulators Thursday to take up a set of reforms to safeguard the banking system, following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

The administration wants regulators to take a range of steps to reinstate safeguards for banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion and �strengthen oversight and regulation of larger banks so that we are not in this position again,� the White House said on Thursday.

In major political development, Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday in a probe of hush money payments to a porn star during his 2016 campaign � a historic event in American law and politics that is certain to divide an already polarized society and electorate.

The 45th president, the first former Oval Office occupant to be indicted, will be fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken like any criminal defendant when he comes to New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan to face the charges, court officials have reportedly said.

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