Market at day`s high, Nifty crosses 18,400 level, media shares in demand

The frontline indices marched higher and hit an intraday high in mid-morning trade. The Nifty scaled above the 18,400 level. Media shares witnessed decent buying demand.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 370.63 points or 0.60% to 62,398.53. The Nifty 50 index added 98.30 points or 0.54% to 18,413.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.54% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.44%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,887 shares rose and 1,498 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged.

On the political front, Congress has made a comeback in Karnataka, as per the results declared by the Election Commission. The Congress has won 136 seats, the BJP`s tally has been reduced to 66 and the JD(S) 19.

Economy:

India`s consumer price inflation continued to moderate and fell to an 18-month low of 4.70% in April on an annual basis. The reading stood at 5.66% in March. The consumer-price index (CPI) based inflation has remained within the Reserve Bank of India`s (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6% for the second consecutive month. The consumer food price index also eased to 3.84% in April.

Meanwhile, India`s foreign exchange reserves rose by $7.196 billion to $595.976 billion in the week ended on May 5, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. The overall reserves had dropped by $4.532 billion to $588.78 billion in the previous reporting week. In October 2021, the country`s forex reserve had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 1.42% to 1,725.55. The index fell 1.12% in the past trading session.

Navneet Education (up 4.7%), Network 18 Media & Investments (up 2.75%), Sun TV Network (up 1.84%), TV18 Broadcast (up 1.39%), Nazara Technologies (up 1.29%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 1.21%), PVR Inox (up 1.09%) edged higher.

On the other hand, Dish TV India (down 2.48%), New Delhi Television (down 1.36%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Great Eastern Shipping Company (GE Ship) surged 6.83% after the company`s consolidated net profit surged 282.04% to Rs 721.94 crore on 58.92% increase in net sales to Rs 1455.98 crore in Q4 March 2023 over Q4 March 2022.

Sonata Software declined 1.79% after the company`s consolidated net profit fell by 3.31% to Rs 113.77 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Rs 117.66 crore in Q3 FY23. Net sales tumbled 15.36% to Rs 1,913.50 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Rs 2,260.78 crore in Q3 FY23.

Rainbow Children`s Medicare gained 2.83% after the company`s consolidated net profit surged to Rs 53.86 crore in Q4 FY23 from Rs 12.26 crore in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations increased by 49.20% YoY to Rs 316.96 crore during the quarter.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks advanced on Monday as investors braced for the release of China`s industrial and retail data, while awaiting a host of U.S. Federal Reserve officials to speak to vindicate market pricing of rate cuts this year.

China is due to report monthly industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment data on Tuesday.

US stocks ended slightly lower on Friday, led by weaker megacap shares following their recent rally, as data showed US consumer sentiment dropped to a six-month low.

The Congressional Budget Office said on Friday the U.S. faces a "significant risk" of defaulting on payment obligations within the first two weeks of June without a debt ceiling increase.

U.S. consumer sentiment slumped to a six-month low in May, a survey showed on Friday. The University of Michigan`s preliminary reading on the overall index of consumer sentiment came in at 57.7 this month, the lowest reading since last November and down from 63.5 in April.

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