Indices trade with strong gains; European shares advance

The key equity benchmarks traded with strong gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 21,600 level. Metal, oil & gas and auto shares advanced while media, private bank and bank stocks declined.

At 13:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 501.27 points or 0.70% to 71,688.13. The Nifty 50 index added 153.85 points or 0.72% to 21,616.10.

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 1.01%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,494 shares rose and 1,250 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Bharti Airtel (up 3.86%), NTPC (up 2.87%), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (up 2.87%), Tata Steel (up 2.52%) and ICICI Bank (up 2.33%) were major Nifty gainers.

Indusind Bank (down 3.47%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.73%), Reliance Industries (down 0.48%), Divi`s Laboratories (down 0.54%) and Dr Reddy`s Laboratories (down 0.24%) were major Nifty losers.

IndusInd Bank slipped 3.47%. The private lender`s standalone net profit increased 17.29% to Rs 2,297.85 crore on 21.11% rise in total income to Rs 13,968.10 crore in Q3 FY24 over Q3 FY23.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro rose 0.78%. The company has signed a definitive agreement to subscribe for the equity share capital in Huoban Energy 11 Private Limited to enhance the proportion of usage of renewable energy for offices in Maharashtra.

Shalby advanced 2.20% after the company has announced a strategic investment in PK Healthcare Pvt with an acquisition of 87.26% equity stake for a consideration of Rs 102 crore (approx).

Poonawalla Fincorp added 1.21% after the NBFC reported 76% jump in net profit to Rs 265 crore in Q3 FY24 from Rs 150 crore in Q3 FY23.

Metro Brands declined 3.33%. The company reported 3% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 111.19 crore in Q3 FY24 as compared with Rs 114.63 crore in Q3 FY23.

Global Markets:

European shares advanced while Asian stocks traded mixed on Friday, tracking an overnight rise in US stocks.

Japan�s headline inflation rate fell to 2.6% in December, down from 2.8% in November and hitting its lowest level since June 2022. Japan�s core inflation rate � which strips out prices of fresh food � also fell to 2.3% from November�s figure of 2.5%.

US stocks ended with strong gains on Thursday, as AI optimism drove gains in Nvidia and other chipmakers. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he would be open to reducing U.S. interest rates sooner than he had anticipated if inflation fell faster than he expected.

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