The key equity indices traded with substantial gains in the morning trade as inflation eased to a five-month low, according to data released by the government. The Nifty traded above the 23,150 mark after hitting the day's low of 22,992.20 in early trade. Pharma shares advanced after declining over the past three consecutive trading sessions. Trading could be volatile due to the weekly Nifty 50 F&O series expiry today.
At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 350.96 points or 0.46% to 76,519.26. The Nifty 50 index added 110.35 points or 0.48% to 23,155.60.
In the broader market, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rallied 1.10%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.73%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,395 shares rose and 1,118 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India’s retail inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to a five-month low of 4.31% in January 2025, mainly due to lower food prices, according to official data released on Wednesday. CPI-based retail inflation was 5.22% in December, and 5.1% in January 2024.
India’s industrial production growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) eased to 3.2% in December, down from a 6-month high of 5.2% in the previous month, according to data released by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The slowdown was largely due to weaker manufacturing activity, which grew 3% in December compared to 5.5% in November.
Result Today:
Afcons Infrastructure (down 0.84%), Allcargo Logistics (up 1.17%), Anupam Rasayan India (down 0.35%), BF Utilities (up 2.78%), Capacite Infraprojects (up 1.94%), Carborundum Universal (down 0.16%), Concord Biotech (up 2.36%), DCW (up 1.66%), Deepak Nitrite (up 1.50%), Godfrey Phillips India (down 2.58%), Goodyear India (down 2.18%), Gujarat Pipavav Port (up 0.84%), Grindwell Norton (down 0.43%), Harsha Engineers International (up 0.89%), Hindustan Construction Co (down 1.65%), HealthCare Global Enterprises (down 0.85%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.44%), IPCA Laboratories (up 2.46%), India Tourism Development (down 0.29%) will declare their results later today.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index jumped 1.97% to 21,558.95. The index dropped 4.23% in past three consecutive trading sessions.
Aurobindo Pharma (up 5.01%), Lupin (up 4.82%), Granules India (up 3.76%), Mankind Pharma (up 3.23%), Biocon (up 3.22%), Cipla (up 2.83%), Divis Laboratories (up 2.78%), Laurus Labs (up 2.65%), Ipca Laboratories (up 2.12%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.91%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Honasa Consumer jumped 5.01% after the company’s consolidated net profit increased marginally to Rs 26.02 crore in Q3 FY25, up 0.5% as compared with Rs 25.90 crore in Q3 FY24. Net sales rose 6% to Rs 571.51 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 488.22 crore in Q3 FY24.
Jupiter Wagons (JWL) rose 1.31% after the company said that it has received order from Ambuja Cement and ACC for manufacture and supply of BCFCM rakes wagon and the value of these orders is Rs 600 crore.
Rites added 1.10% after the company said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to collaborate on IT solutions for consultancy assignments.