Market Commentary - End-Session
Sensex gains 89 pts, Nifty ends above 22,500 in special trading session As on : 18-May-24  13:38

Domestic stocks capped off the special trading session with small gains, extending their winning streak to three days. The Nifty 50 settled near its opening price after an initial jump, but broader market ended firm. Realty and pharma stocks led the charge, while financials took a breather. The overall sentiment was buoyed by the Dow Jones' record close. A welcome sign is foreign investors returning to the buying side, easing some pressure on the market.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 88.91 points or 0.12% to 74,005.94. The Nifty 50 index added 40.65 points or 0.18% to 22,506.75.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.48% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.77%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2440 shares rose and 1037 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

The National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange held a special live trading session today, 18 May 2024, in the equity and equity derivative segments with an intra-day switchover from the Primary site to the Disaster Recovery site. The special session was divided into two parts ? the first session began at 9:15 am and concluded at 10 am, followed by another session started at 11:30 am and ended at 12:30 pm.

Numbers to Watch:

MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2024 settlement rose 0.05% to Rs 73,750.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.03% to 104.50.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for July 2024 settlement advanced 69 cents or 0.83% to $83.96 a barrel.

Global Markets:

US equities on Friday gained, with the Dow Jones closing above the historic 40,000-level for the first time ever. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.34% to settle at an impressive 40,003.59. While the broader S&P 500 managed a modest gain of 0.1%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the day flat with a slight downward tilt. These positive market movements likely stem from a combination of strong corporate earnings reports and economic data that has fueled investor optimism about potential Federal Reserve interest rate reductions later this year.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Zydus Lifesciences hit an upper limit of 5% after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 1,182.3 crore in Q4 FY24, steeply higher than Rs 296.6 crore in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations jumped 10.44% YoY to Rs 5,533.8 crore during the quarter.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) rallied 3.06% after the company reported 33.16% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 478.40 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 359.25 crore in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations jumped 17.38% year on year (YoY) to Rs 6,714.01 crore in the fourth quarter of FY24.

Bandhan Bank rose 0.94%. The bank?s net profit tumbled 93.24% to Rs 54.62 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared to Rs 808.29 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. However total income grew by 20.13% to Rs 5,883.46 crore in the fourth quarter of FY24 from Rs 4,897.39 crore posted in Q4 FY23.

Go Fashion (India) rose 1.28% after the company said that it has entered into a new five-year franchise agreement with Apparel Group, a leader in global fashion and lifestyle retail.

Balkrishna Industries advanced 5% after the firm's consolidated net profit rose 87.36% to Rs 486.75 crore while net sales rose 15.75% to Rs 2681.92 crore in Q4 March 2024 over Q4 March 2023.

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