Sensex gains 385 pts; European shares advance

Domestic equity barometers continued to trade with significant gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 18,600 level. Metal, financial services and banking stocks advanced while oil & gas and IT shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 385.09 points or 0.62% to 62,886.78. The Nifty 50 index added 107.45 points or 0.58% to 18,606.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.41%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,991 shares rose and 1,527 shares fell. A total of 195 shares were unchanged.

Investor heaved a sigh of relief after U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy have reached an agreement over the weekend to lift the US debt ceiling and avoid a disastrous and unprecedented default. The deal would suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until January 2025, allowing the American government to pay its bills.

The cap on government spending in Washington`s deal to raise the federal debt limit adds a fresh headwind to a US economy already burdened by the highest interest rates in decades and reduced access to credit.

Gainers & Losers:

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.39%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.29%), Coal India (up 2.05%), Tata Steel (up 2.02%) and Indusind Bank (up 1.75%) were major Nifty gainers.

ONGC (down 2.72%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.76%), Divi`s Laboratories (down 0.75%), BPCL (down 0.73%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.68%) were top Nifty losers.

ONGC fell 2.72%. The state-owned oil & exploration company`s consolidated net profit tumbled 52.73% to Rs 5,701.46 crore despite of 5.21% rise in revenue to Rs 164,066.72 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q4 FY22.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Bank rose 0.15% while ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company surged 8.69%. The country`s second-largest private sector lender announced on Sunday that its board of directors has approved to raise its shareholding in the ICICI Lombard to over 50%.

ICICI Bank`s shareholding in the insurance major stood at 48.02% as on March 31, 2023, and now its Board has given a green flag to increase its stake in ICICI Lombard by up to 4% in multiple tranches. The banking behemoth will acquire at least a 2.5% stake in ICICI Lombard before September 9, 2024, out of the approved 4%.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) jumped 4.05%. BHEL`s consolidated net profit declined 33% to Rs 611 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 912.47 crore reported in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations rose 2.9% year on year (YoY) to Rs 7,819.37 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2023.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries declined 0.43%. The company has issued a letter to the board of directors of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, Israel (Taro), with a proposal containing a non-binding indication of interest to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares in Taro, other than any shares already held by the company or its affiliates (For a purchase price of $38 per ordinary share, in cash).

Aurobindo Pharma slipped 1.10%. The company`s consolidated net profit fell 12.2% to Rs 505.9 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 576.1 crore recorded in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 6473 crore in Q4 FY23, up 11.4% from Rs 5809.4 crore posted in Q4 FY22.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe and Asia advanced on Monday on improved risk appetite following the deal between US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling.

US stocks rose on Friday as talks on raising the US debt ceiling progressed. President Biden and Speaker McCarthy reached a final agreement to avert US default and to suspend the debt limit through January 2025.

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