Sensex, Nifty continue their upward march; European markets open mostly lower

The key equity barometers extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in afternoon trade. The Nifty scaled above the 17,950 mark after hitting the day`s low of 17,885.30 in morning trade. European markets edged mostly lower while most markets in Asia traded in the green.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 173.8 points or 0.29% to 60,823.18. The Nifty 50 index added 60.40 points or 0.34% to 17,975.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.84% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.78%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,153 shares rose and 1,242 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Axis Bank declined 2.50%. The private lender reported a net loss of Rs 5,728.42 crore in Q4 FY23 as against a net profit of Rs 4,117.77 crore in Q4 FY22. Total income increased 31.2% year on year (YoY) to Rs 28,865.08 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2023.

Net profit (excluding exceptional items) grew by 61% YoY to Rs 6,625 crore in Q4 FY23 and jumped 68% YoY to Rs 21,933 crore FY23. Exceptional items during the quarter and year ended 31 March 2023, aggregated to Rs 12,490 crore.

Wipro rose 2.94%. The IT major`s consolidated net profit rose 0.71% to Rs 3,074.5 crore on 0.17% decline in revenue form operations to Rs 23,190.3 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. On a year on year (YoY) basis, the IT firm`s net profit declined 0.41% while revenue jumped 11.17% in Q4 FY23.

Meanwhile, the company`s board has approved a share buyback of upto Rs 12,000 crore at a price of Rs 445 per equity share through tender offer route, on a proportionate basis.

Tech Mahindra added 1.43%. The IT major`s consolidated net profit declined 13.8% to Rs 1,117.7 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 1,296.6 crore posted in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations fell marginally to Rs 13,718.2 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 13,734.6 crore recorded in Q3 FY23. On a year on year (YoY) basis, Tech Mahindra`s net profit tumbled 25.77% while revenue jumped 13.22% in Q4 FY23.

ACC was up 0.44%. The cement major reported consolidated net profit of Rs 236 crore in Q4FY23 as compared to net profit of Rs 396 crore in Q4FY22. Net revenue rose to Rs 4791 crore from Rs 4427 crore.

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC (ABSL AMC) rose 0.68%. ABSL AMC reported 14.5% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 135.57 crore on 8.2% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 296.97 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q4 FY22.

Aarti Surfactants surged 13.52%. The company`s consolidated net profit jumped 97.9% to Rs 4.69 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Rs 2.37 crore in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations rose 4.3% to Rs 157.84 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 151.40 crore recorded in Q4 FY22.

Global Markets:

European markets opened mostly lower while most Asian stocks advanced on Friday after Wall Street logged one of its best days in the year, powered by earnings from Big Tech companies.

The Bank of Japan left its interest rates unchanged in newly appointed Governor Kazuo Ueda`s first policy meeting. The decision was in line with the widely reported market expectations for no changes to the benchmark interest rate, which has been held at minus 0.1% since the central bank took rates below zero in 2016.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday thanks to upbeat results from bellwether tech firms, with Meta Platforms Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc soaring after reporting results.

Data showed that gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of the year. That was down from a 2.6% increase in the final three months of 2022.

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