Nifty above 21,900; European shares advance

Domestic equity benchmarks traded with moderate gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty marched above the 21,900 level. Oil & gas, pharma and auto shares advanced while consumer durables, financial services and bank stocks declined.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 150.11 points or 0.21% to 72,235.74 . The Nifty 50 index added 71.40 points or 0.33% to 21,925.20.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.76% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.61%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,056 shares rose and 1,840 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index came at 61.8 in January, up from 59 in December, comfortably above the neutral level of 50 and pointed to the sharpest rate of expansion in six months. Moreover, the current sequence of uninterrupted increases was stretched to two-and-a-half years. According to survey participants, growth was spurred by demand buoyancy, productivity gains and rising intakes of new work.

The HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index rose to 61.2 in December from 58.5, indicating the sharpest upturn since mid-2023. January data highlighted a further acceleration in growth of Indian private sector output, amid quicker increases at both goods producers and service providers.

Meanwhile, India�s forex reserves increased $591 million to $616.733 billion for the week ended January 26, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $2.795 billion to $616.143 billion.

Gold reserves increased $269 million to $47.481 billion during the week, the RBI said. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up $27 million to $18.248 billion, the apex bank said.

Gainers & Losers:

Tata Motors (up 6.79%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.34%), Eicher Motors (up 1.32%), CIPLA (up 1.26%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.13%) were major Nifty gainers.

UPL (down 3.91%), ICICI bank (down 0.88%), State Bank of India (down 0.79%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.75%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.60%) were major Nifty losers.

State Bank of India (SBI) shed 0.79%. The largest PSU bank�s standalone net profit slipped 35.49% to Rs 9,163.96 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 14,205.34 crore posted in Q3 FY23. Total income increased 20.5% year on year (YoY) to Rs 1,18,192.68 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2023.

Tata Motors rallied 6.79% after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 7,145.43 crore in Q3 FY24, steeply higher from Rs 3,043.15 crore posted in Q3 FY23. Total revenue from operations jumped 24.96% YoY to Rs 11,05,77.14 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2023.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shed 0.27%. The EPC major announced that its hydrocarbon business, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) has secured �large� onshore project from Indian Oil Adani Ventures.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers soared 11.05% after the real estate developer�s consolidated net profit jumped 50.6% to Rs 50 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 33.2 crore recorded in Q3 FY23. revenue from operations tumbled 56.13% to Rs 81.99 crore in Q3 FY24 from Rs 186.90 crore posted in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Metropolis Healthcare advanced 2.25%. The company reported 23.93% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 27.28 crore in Q3 FY24 as compared with Rs 35.86 crore in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations rose 1.98% YoY to Rs 391.11 crore in Q3 FY24.

Global Markets:

Most of the European shares advanced while most of the Asian stocks were traded lower on Monday after a robust US jobs report dashed any expectations of a near-term interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

US stocks ended sharply higher on Friday with the S&P 500 registering an all-time closing high as strong earnings and a blowout January employment report boosted confidence in the economy.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News