Sensex, Nifty edge higher; media shares drop for 2nd day

Equity indices edged higher and traded with modest gains in mid morning trade. The Nifty scaled the 17,300 mark. Pharma and financial shares rallied while media shares corrected for the second day running. Positive global cues boosted sentiment.

At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex gained 299.48 points or 0.52% at 57,820.84. The Nifty 50 index rose 93.4 points or 0.54% at 17,338.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.58% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.39%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,833 shares rose while 1337 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index slipped 1.03% to 2,190.45, extending its losing run to second trading session. The index fell 4% in two days.

TV18 Broadcast (down 3.88%), Saregama India (down 3.06%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 1.39%) and Nazara Technologies (down 0.25%) were top losers in media space.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IndiaMART InterMESH fell 2.74%. The company`s consolidated net profit gained 3.1% to Rs 57.40 crore on a 12.1% rose in net sales to Rs 201.40 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. The net sales were primarily driven by 11% increase in number of paying subscription suppliers and marginal improvement in realization from existing customers. Consolidated profit before tax declined 14% to Rs 76.70 crore in Q4 March 2022 as against Rs 89.20 crore in Q4 March 2021. The total expenses increased by 49.44% to Rs 148.40 crore in Q4 March 2022 as compared to Rs 99.30 crore in Q4 March 2021. The firm`s EBITDA dropped 33% to Rs 57 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Rs 85 crore in Q4 March 2021. EBITDA margin stood at 28% during Q4 March 2022 over 48% in Q4 March 2021. The margin declined primarily due to investments being made for growth in manpower as well as sales and distribution which has resulted into increased customer addition.

Camlin Fine Sciences dropped 11.3% after the company said that the Russia-Ukraine crisis may impact its consolidated Q4 results. The Russia-Ukraine crisis has had an adverse impact on all costs especially raw materials, logistics and power and fuel, the company said in a statement. The company`s material subsidiary CFS Europe SpA which manufactures Diphenols in Italy, Europe has been severally impacted due to phenomenal increase in power costs, owing to this crisis. The normal average quarterly power cost has increased by 240% in quarter ended 31 March 2022 which has resulted in an increase in power cost of around Rs 28 crore in the quarter. The group has been able to transfer some of the inflationary increase in the costs to its customers by increasing the sale prices, but to a certain extent. However, the company said it expects to have an impact on the consolidated results for the quarter and financial year ended 31 March 2022.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks advanced on Friday following big gains overnight on Wall Street. Markets in Japan are closed on Friday for a holiday.

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Thursday after a strong quarterly report from Meta Platforms lifted beaten down technology and growth stocks and offset worries about the US economy`s contraction in the first quarter. The Facebook parent surged 17.6% after the social network reported a larger-than-expected profit and rebounded from a drop in users.

US economic growth fell 1.4% annualised in the first quarter of 2022, government data said Thursday. The data was far worse than the mild increase analysts had expected, and came after the economy had grown 6.9% in the final quarter of 2021.

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