Markets extend gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets extended their gains in late afternoon session amid value buying. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded with gains of over a percent. Traders overlooked report that inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) accelerated in the month of April 2024 to 1.26% from 0.53% in March 2024, due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing etc. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as caution prevailed ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data that might influence the outlook for rates. European markets were trading mostly in red as investors braced for a key U.S. inflation data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks due later in the day, while Delivery Hero jumped on the sale of its Taiwan foodpanda business to Uber. Back home, India's palm oil imports registered a 34.11 per cent jump on-year in April to 6,84,000 tonnes, buoyed by a fall in global prices.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73190.97, up by 414.84 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 72683.99 and 73286.26. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.06%, while Small cap index up by 1.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.51%, Metal up by 2.30%, Power up by 2.13%, Industrials up by 2.07% and Basic Materials was up by 1.90%, while FMCG down by 0.08% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.83%, JSW Steel up by 2.55%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.33%, Reliance Industries up by 1.52% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.09%, Axis Bank down by 0.91%, TCS down by 0.57%, ICICI Bank down by 0.55% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) accelerated in the month of April 2024 to 1.26% from 0.53% in March 2024, due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing etc.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased 1.97% to 186.7 (provisional) in April 2024 from 183.1 (provisional) for the month of March 2024, on the back of rise in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas and food articles. However, there was decline in prices of non-food articles and minerals in the reported month. 

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, declined 0.26% to 154.8 (provisional) in April 2024 from 155.2 (provisional) for the month of March 2024, as prices of electricity declined in April 2024 as compared to March, 2024. On the other hand, prices of mineral oils increased in April 2024 as compared to March 2024. 

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, surged 0.50% to 140.8 (provisional) in April 2024 from 140.1 (provisional) for the month of March 2024. Meanwhile, for the month of February 2024 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011- 12=100) stood at 151.2 and 0.20% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22251.65, up by 147.60 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 22081.25 and 22270.05. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 5.17%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.00%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.02%, JSW Steel up by 2.63% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.40%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.10%, Nestle down by 1.06%, TCS down by 0.60%, Axis Bank down by 0.58% and ICICI Bank down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 176.6 points or 0.46% to 38,356.06, Taiwan Weighted added 128.14 points or 0.61% to 20,985.85, KOSPI increased 3.13 points or 0.11% to 2,730.34 and Straits Times was up by 1.08 points or 0.03% to 3,304.74. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 2.25 points or 0.07% to 3,145.77, Jakarta Composite plunged 9.32 points or 0.13% to 7,089.94 and Hang Seng was down by 41.35 points or 0.22% to 19,073.71.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 4.84 points or 0.06% to 8,204.44 and Germany’s DAX was down by 34.88 points or 0.19% to 18,707.34. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 15.57 points or 0.19% to 8,430.56.