Barometer trade with moderate gains; European mkt opens higher

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,150 mark after hitting day�s low of 21,917.50 in early trade. Media, metal and oil & gas shares advanced while banking and financial services stocks declined.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 427.92 points or 0.59% to 73,189.81. The Nifty 50 index added 163.05 points or 0.74% to 22,163.80.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 2.04% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index surged 3.01%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,692 shares rose and 1,128 shares fell. A total of 97 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

Data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry showed that India`s wholesale price inflation eased further to a four-month low of 0.20% in February on an annual basis, as against 0.27% in January.

The sequential WPI rate for February grew 0.07% against a contraction of (-) 0.33% in the month before.

Positive rate of inflation in February, 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, electricity, machinery & equipment and motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers etc.

Gainers & Losers:

Adani Enterprises (up 5.93%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 4.95%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.05%) Hero Motocorp (up 2.69%) and Infosys (up 2.38%) were major Nifty gainers.

JSW Steel (down 1.04%), Bajaj Finance (down 0.62%), IndusInd Bank (down 0.60%) Tata Steel (down 0.52%) and Axis Bank (down 0.49%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 1.96% after the company �s Hydrocarbon Business, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon has secured major order for gas pipeline project from a prestigious client in the Middle East.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) soared 10.15% after the company said that its joint venture, RVNL-SALASAR has received a letter of award (LoA) from Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company (MPPTC) worth Rs 173.98 crore.

Tata Motors shed 0.42%. The company announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu to setting up a vehicle manufacturing facility in the state.

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) advanced 3.42% after the company announced that it has signed two contracts with Minsitry of Defence for Rs 8,073.17 crore on 13 March 2024.

Indian Hume Pipe Company surged 12.44% after the company�s joint venture received a work order worth Rs 1,137.77 crore from the Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department, Government of Telangana.

Kalpataru Projects International jumped 5.19% after the company, along with its joint ventures (JVs) and international subsidiaries, announced the receipt of new orders worth Rs 2,445 crore.

Godrej Properties (GPL) declined 1.88%. The company said that it has acquired approximately 3-acres of land in Kokapet, with an estimated potential of nearly 1.2 million square feet of saleable area.

Antony Waste Handling Cell jumped 5.09% after the company�s subsidiary Antony Lara Enviro Solutions has been awarded contract for bio-mining approximately 8.6 lakh tonnes of legacy waste by CIDCO.

Zydus Lifesciences added 2.44% after the company has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride Injection.

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced on Thursday as investors awaited another key U.S. inflation reading for February.

Asian stocks traded higher on Thursday. Investors were focused on the outcome of spring wage negotiations in Japan.

Japan`s wage negotiations have concluded, with early reports indicating large companies offered significant pay raises. This could lead the Bank of Japan to tighten its monetary policy when they meet next week.

In the US market, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower on Wednesday as investors took profits from chipmaker stocks. This comes as they await producer price data and further signs on the inflation trend before the Federal Reserve meeting next week.

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