Sensex up 395 pts; Nifty hovers above 16,350

The key equity indices continued trading with modest gains in the afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 16,350 mark. Metal and oil & gas stocks were under pressure.

At 13:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 395.22 points or 0.73% to 54,721.61. The Nifty 50 index added 92.30 points or 0.57% to 16,358.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.79% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.30%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,722 shares rose and 1,592 shares fell. A total of 178 shares were unchanged.

Persisting inflation worries, looming fears of sharp interest rates hikes and worsening the global economic outlook continued to weigh on investors` sentiment.

Economy:

On Saturday, the Centre cut excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre to give relief to consumers battered by high fuel prices that have also pushed inflation to a multi-year high. The excise duty cut would translate into a reduction of Rs 9.5 a litre on petrol and Rs 7 a litre on diesel after taking into account its impact on other levies.

The government has waived customs duty on the import of some raw materials, including coking coal and ferronickel, used by the steel industry. The duty on exports of iron ore has been hiked up to 50% and on a few steel intermediaries to 15%, according to a notification. The duty changes will be effective from Sunday.

Gainers & Losers:

Maruti (up 4.71%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.19%), Hindustan Unilever (up 2.42%), Asian Paints (up 2.38%) and Indusind Bank (up 2.38%) were major Nifty gainers.

JSW Steel (down 12.3%), Tata Steel (down 11.93%), ONGC (down 4.01%), Hindalco (down 3.17%) and ITC (down 1.84%) were majority Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Cochin Shipyard jumped 6.66% to Rs 345.75 after the company`s consolidated net profit rose 16.26% to Rs 274.62 crore on 12.23% increase in net sales to Rs 1212.49 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021. On a consolidated basis, profit before tax (PBT) rose 22.88% YoY to Rs 374.14 crore in Q4 FY22.

Divis Laboratories rose 1% to Rs 4348.60 after the company`s standalone net profit rose 81% to Rs 883 crore on 45.20% increase in net sales to Rs 2495.03 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021. On a standalone basis, profit before tax (PBT) rose 63% YoY to Rs 1066 crore in Q4 FY22. During the quarter, total expenses rose 35.88% to Rs 1,479.85 crore.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones index futures were up 260 points, indicating a positive opening in the US stocks later today.

Shares in Europe and Asia were mixed on Monday amid concerns over slowdown in global economic growth and hawkish statement from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell. The Fed Chair said that the central bank would notch up interest rates as high as needed taking rates above neutral (rate at which economic activity is neither simulated nor constrained) to curb soaring inflation.

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