Market at day`s high; Nifty re-claims 17,300 level

The benchmark indices touched intraday high during mid-morning trade, supported by a strong demand in IT and auto stocks. The Nifty re-claimed 17,300 level. Meanwhile, Reliance Industries (RIL) (up 2.15%) hit an all-time record high of Rs 2,777.75 during intraday trade.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex rallied 716.84 points or 1.26% at 57,754.34. The Nifty 50 index rose 199.45 points or 1.16% at 17,336.

Oil prices traded higher but in a narrow range on Thursday, after being rocked earlier in the week by supply losses from Libya and a worrying outlook for demand as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth forecasts.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.76%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.87%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 2,296 shares rose while 945 shares fell. A total of 115 shares were unchanged.

As per provisional data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,009.26 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,645.82 crore in the Indian equity market on 20 April 2022.

COVID-19 Update:

India reported 2,380 COVID-19 cases and 56 deaths as of Thursday. The active cases in the country are above 13,000.

Results Today:

HCL Technologies (up 0.57%), ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (up 1.04%), L&T Technology Services (LTTS) (up 1.32%), Cyient (up 1.23%) and Rallis India (up 0.63%) will release their quarterly earnings today, 21 April 2022.

Crypto Market:

Among the popular crypto currencies, Bitcoin (BTC) (up 0.48%) and Tether (USDT) (up 0.28%) advanced.

However, Doge Coin (Doge) (down 3.79%), Ethereum (ETH) (down 0.18%) and Binance Coin (BNB) (down 0.05%) declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 1.12% to 10,969.70. The index added 3.34% in two trading sessions.

Among the components of the Nifty Auto index, Tube Investments of India (up 2.35%), Balkrishna Industries (up 2.08%), Bharat Forge (up 2.03%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.62%) and Escorts (up 1.53%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (up 1.39%), Bosch (up 1.29%), Eicher Motors (up 1.19%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.07%) and TVS Motor Company (up 0.97%).

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto (down 0.22%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Nestle India fell 0.01%. The FMCG company`s net profit fell 1.25% to Rs 594.7 crore in quarter ended March 2022 as compared to quarter ended March 2021. Net sales jumped 9.7% to Rs 3,950 crore in quarter ended March 2022 from Rs 3,600 crore posted in quarter ended March 2021. The FMCG major`s profit before exceptional items and tax fell 0.69% to Rs 806.2 crore in Q1 CY22 over Q1 CY21.

Total sales and domestic sales for the quarter ended March 2022 increased by 9.7% and 10.2% respectively. Domestic sales growth was broad based and largely driven by volume & mix. Export sales were lower by 1% largely due to change in product mix. Nestle said profitability was impacted as Cost of materials consumed increased due to higher commodity prices, particularly edible oil, milk and its derivatives and packaging materials.

Dr. Reddy`s Laboratories gained 0.77%. The pharmaceutical major announced the launch of Posaconazole delayed-release tablets in the U.S. market. Posaconazole delayed-release tablets, the therapeutic generic equivalent to NOXAFIL (posaconazole) delayed-release tablets, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). Posaconazole is used to prevent certain fungal infections in patients who have severely weakened immune systems (such as patients who have had chemotherapy). It belongs to a class of drugs known as azole antifungals. It works by stopping the growth of fungi.

Ajanta Soya hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 259 after the company said its board approved 5-for-1 sock split. The board of Ajanta Soya on 20 April 2022 approved splitting each share of face value Rs 10 each into five shares of face value Rs 2 each.

Global Markets:

Asian markets traded mixed on Thursday as investors continue to watch China`s Covid situation along with moves in the Japanese yen.

Investors are watching for signs of policy support from Chinese authorities as the mainland continues to grapple with its most severe Covid wave since the initial outbreak in 2020. Its strict zero-Covid policy has raised questions about China`s economic outlook.

US stocks ended in mixed territory on Wednesday as the tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged down by bleak Netflix earnings, while bond yields dipped after a recent strong run. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on the back of strong earnings from Procter & Gamble.

Netflix fell 35% after its quarterly results showed a loss of 2,00,000 subscribers in the first quarter, its first reported subscriber loss in more than 10 years.

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