Sensex, Nifty turn rangebound; auto shares rise for 5th day

The equity benchmarks indices traded in a narrow range, near the day`s high, in mid-morning trade. The Nifty continued to trade above the 18,300 level. Auto stocks witnessed strong buying demand for fifth consecutive session.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 200.5 points or 0.32% to 61,964.75. The Nifty 50 index added 59.45 points or 0.33% to 18,323.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.60% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.45%.

The market breadth remained strong. On the BSE, 2061 shares rose and 1237 shares fell. A total of 131 shares were unchanged.

Investor attention remains centered on important US inflation data scheduled for release this week, along with earnings of over 300 companies on the Dalal Street and the outcome of a state election in India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index gained 0.84% to 13,698.65. The index has risen 3.16% in five sessions.

Tube Investments of India (up 3.13%), Tata Motors (up 1.8%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.4%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 1.03%) and Bharat Forge (up 1%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Ashok Leyland Ltd (up 0.99%), Hero MotoCorp Ltd (up 0.95%), Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd (up 0.92%), TVS Motor Company Ltd (up 0.59%) and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (up 0.51%).

On the other hand, Bosch (down 0.47%), Balkrishna Industries (down 0.4%) and Eicher Motors (down 0.16%) turned lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Kansai Nerolac Paints advanced 2.42%. The company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 93.99 crore in Q4 FY23, steeply higher than Rs 24.53 crore recorded in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations grew by 13.6% year on year to Rs 1,605.11 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2023.

VIP Industries declined 1.17%. The company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 4.26 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with net profit of Rs 12.39 crore in Q4 FY22. Net sales jumped 26.6% to Rs 450.57 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 355.90 crore in Q4 FY22.

Happiest Minds Technologies rose 2.07%. The IT solutions provider`s consolidated net profit rose marginally to Rs 57.66 crore in Q4 FY23 from Rs 57.58 crore recorded in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations grew by 3.03% to Rs 377.98 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23.

Dev Information Technology gained 3.60%. The company said it bagged an order from Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) for setting up enterprise class mailing solution at its head office. The contract is worth about Rs 2.15 crore and it is to be executed in two months.

Global markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday as investors reacted to China`s April trade data releasd today.

Chinese imports fell sharply in April, data showed on Tuesday, indicating that local demand remained weak despite a pick-up in economic activity, although a bigger-than-expected rise in exports saw the country log a strong trade surplus.

Data from the Customs Administrations showed that China`s imports fell 7.9% in April from the prior year, as compared with the prior month`s reading of negative 1.4%.

On the other hand, China`s exports grew a bigger-than-expected 8.5% in April. But the pace of growth slowed from March`s reading of 14.8%.

While China`s economy grew more than expected in the first quarter of 2023, growth remained largely skewed towards the services sector. Manufacturing, which is a major economic driver for the country, has struggled to recover from three years of COVID-related disruptions.

US stocks paused on Monday after a strong rally in the prior session as investors shift focus to a key inflation reading later this week.

The spotlight this week will be on the Labor Department`s inflation reading on Wednesday. Producer prices, weekly jobless claims and consumer sentiment data are all lined up for the week.

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