Equity indices came off the day's high amid profit taking at higher level in morning trade. The Nifty failed to hold 15,000 mark and the Sensex gave up 50,000 level. Metal stocks were in demand while PSU banks corrected. Asian stocks were trading firm after the US Fed kept interest rates unchanged after its meeting yesterday.
At 10:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 157.67 points or 0.32% at 49,904.61. The Nifty 50 index was up 58.65 points or 0.39% at 14,923.55.
Trading was volatile as traders roll over positions in F&O segment from the near month April series to May series. The April 2021 F&O contracts will expire today.
In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.12% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.1%.
The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1257 shares rose and 1276 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 149,233,422 with 3,146,803 deaths.
India reported 30,84,814 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 204,832 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
I
On Wednesday, 14 states and UTs recorded their highest single-day case count on Wednesday, with India reporting nearly 3.8 lakh cases in last 24 hours and over 3,000 deaths.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index jumped 2.09% to 4,742.35, outperforming other sectoral indices on the NSE. The index corrected 0.3% in the previous session.
Tata Steel (up 4.57%), JSW Steel (up 3.57%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.5%), Steel Authority of India (up 3.09%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.78%), NMDC (up 2.13%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.64%), Vedanta (up 1.13%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.09%) and Coal India (up 0.82%) were top gainers in metal space.
China has announced the removal of VAT rebates on exports of 146 steel products from 1 May. The rebate of 13% of the VAT charged on exports of hot rolled coil, wire rod and rebar will no longer apply from May. Cold rolled steel sheet, hot-dip galvanized sheet and narrow strip were also on the list of products that have had the rebate removed.
Results Today:
Bajaj Auto (up 0.78%), HUL (up 0.58%), Titan Company (up 0.36%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 1.68%), Coromandel International (up 0.12%), Exide Industries (up 1.02%), IndiaMart InterMesh (up 0.52%), L&T Finance (up 0.49%), Motilal Oswal (up 3.67%), Shriram Transport Finance (up 1.25%), Persistent Systems (up 1.05%) and Zensar Technologies (up 0.2%) will announce quarterly results today.
Earnings Impact:
Biocon rose 1.32% to Rs 396.10 after the company reported 105% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 254 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 123 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenue from operations rose 18% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,839 crore during the quarter. On the segment front, revenue from generics was Rs 578 crore (up 3% YoY), revenue from biosimilars was Rs 664 crore (up 53% YoY) and revenue from research services was Rs 659 crore (up 8% YoY) in the fourth quarter. EBITDA increased by 68% to Rs 641 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 382 crore in Q4 FY20.
Carborundum Universal jumped 4.03% to Rs 517.55 after the company's consolidated net profit rose 2.4% to Rs 96.19 crore on a 28% surge in net sales to Rs 750.26 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. Consolidated sales were driven by steady performance across business segments. On a consolidated basis, segmental profitability for the year recorded growth across all the business segments.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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