Share Market LIVE: Sensex rises 900 pts, Nifty crosses 17,300; HUL zooms 4%

Good afternoon!

On Wednesday, the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1 per cent on profit-booking in financial and IT stocks after a recent rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 537.22 points or 0.94 per cent to end at 56,819.39. During the day, it tanked 772.57 points or 1.34 per cent to 56,584.04. The NSE Nifty declined by 162.40 points or 0.94 per cent to 17,038.40.

Who will win the battle today on Dalal Street? Bulls or Bears? Here are the latest updates!

2:46 pm: Latest update

Sensex rises 921 points to 57,740 and Nifty gains 268 points to 17,306 in the afternoon session.

2:29 pm: Market breadth is mixed with 1668 shares trading higher against 1687 stocks falling on BSE. 109 shares were unchanged.

1:12 pm: Sensex rises 723 points to 57,542 and Nifty gains 209 points to 17,248  in the afternoon session.

1:04 pm: Top gainers and losers

Top Sensex gainers are HUL, Asian Paints, L&T, ITC and PowerGrid, rising up to 4.22 per cent. HCL Tech, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank are the top Sensex losers , falling up to 0.78 per cent.

12:30 pm: Latest update

Sensex rises 573 points to 57,393 and Nifty gains 164 points to 17,203 in the afternoon session.

11:50 am: HUL stock rises 4% post Q4 earnings, what should investors do?

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) rose 4 per cent today after the FMCG firm reported a 8.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The large-cap stock opened 2.79 per cent higher at Rs 2,204 today. Later, HUL stock gained 4 per cent to Rs 2230 against the previous close of Rs 2144.25 on BSE.

The stock trades higher than 5 day, 20 day and 50 day moving averages but lower than 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

The stock has lost 8.68 per cent in a year and fallen 6.85 per cent this year. The firm reported a profit of Rs 2,327 crore for the quarter ended 31 March, 2022 against a net profit of Rs 2,143 crore in the year-ago period.

Sequentially, the profit rose 4 per cent from Rs 2,243 crore in the December quarter.

Revenue from operations rose 10.4 per cent to Rs 13,190 crore as compared to Rs 11,947 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

11:30 am: Bajaj Auto shares tank over 3% post Q4 earnings

Shares of India's leading two and three-wheeler company Bajaj Auto tanked over 3 per cent to hit an intraday low of Rs 3,804.8 on BSE after the company posted earnings for the quarter ended March 2022. 

The stock opened a tad higher at Rs 3,992.05 against the previous close of Rs 3,905.95 on BSE. With a market capitalisation of Rs 1,11,000 crore, the shares stand higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. 

The company reported a 10 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,469 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2022. It had reported a net profit of Rs 1,332 crore in the year-ago period.  

11:00 am: Gold dips to 2-month low on lofty dollar, imminent US rate hike

Gold prices weakened on Thursday to a two-month low as an elevated dollar hurt demand for greenback-priced bullion, while an impending U.S. interest rate hike also dampened the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge.

Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,882.49 per ounce, after hitting its lowest since Feb. 24 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.4% at $1,881.40.

Gold has been holding very well above $1,900, but has seen pressure from the dollar, and the underlying factor of the Fed being expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points next week, said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central.

10:00 am: Reliance shares trade higher post Bodhi Tree System, Viacom 18 partnerships

Shares of energy-to-telecom behemoth Reliance Industries were trading higher in early trade on Thursday after Reliance and Viacom18 announced a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, which is a platform of James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, to form one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India.

The stock opened 1 per cent higher at Rs 2,815 against the previous close of Rs 2,777.90. With a market capitalisation of Rs 18,89,790 crore, the shares stand higher than 5-day, 20-day, 50-day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

On Wednesday, the market cap of the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate also crossed Rs 19 lakh crore mark and it became the first company to cross that historic mark.

9:16 am: Market opening

Equity benchmark indices opened higher amid positive global cues. Sensex opened 324 points higher at 57,144.37 and Nifty jumped over 150 points to 17,189.50.

HUL was the top gainer on Sensex, advancing over 4 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints and M&M.

8:50 am:  FII and DII action

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 4,064.54 crore on April 27, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,917.51 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

8:30 am: Global updates

The S&P 500 ended higher on Wednesday following a steep drop the day before, with strong revenue forecasts from Microsoft and Visa helping to alleviate worries about slowing global economic growth and rising interest rates.

Microsoft Corp rallied after the software heavyweight late on Tuesday gave a strong revenue forecast, while payments network Visa Inc jumped after it predicted revenue above pre-pandemic levels.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19% to end at 33,301.93 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.21% to 4,183.92. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.01% to 12,488.93.

Asia-Pacific stocks were higher in Thursday morning trade, as investors in the region look ahead to the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy decision.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose fractionally while the Topix index climbed 0.31%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.32% while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.94%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.21% higher.

8:15 am: SGX Nifty

The Indian equity market is likely to open on a flat note today as SGX Nifty was trading 17 points higher at 17,076.

The Singapore Stock Exchange is considered to be the first indication of the opening of the Indian market.

8:10 am: Market on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1 per cent on profit-booking in financial and IT stocks after a recent rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 537.22 points or 0.94 per cent to end at 56,819.39. During the day, it tanked 772.57 points or 1.34 per cent to 56,584.04. The NSE Nifty declined by 162.40 points or 0.94 per cent to 17,038.40.

Tata Steel, Asian Paints, TCS and HCL Tech were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.05 per cent.

Of the 30 Sensex stocks, 22 ended in the red.

Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 266.99 lakh crore. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices slumped 216 points and 176 points, respectively.