The frontline indices traded with modest gains in early afternoon trade, driven by easing global trade tensions, sustained foreign inflows, and a continued increase in India’s foreign exchange reserves, which have increased for the eighth consecutive week. Nifty traded tad above the 24,450 mark.
Metal shares advanced after declining in the past three consecutive trading sessions.
At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 264.73 points or 0.33% to 80,766.72. The Nifty 50 index rose 112.65 points or 0.46% to 24,457.30.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rallied 1.15% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.89%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,453 shares rose and 1,385 shares fell. A total of 195 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India’s foreign exchange reserves (Forex) rose by USD 1.983 billion to USD 688.129 billion in the week that ended on April 25, extending gains for the eighth straight week, official data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) this week showed.
The RBI data shows that foreign currency assets (FCAs) witnessed an uptick of USD 2.168 billion, reaching USD 580.663 billion.
In the reported week, the gold reserves with the RBI declined by USD 207 million, standing at USD 84.365 billion.
The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), which are kept with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), witnessed a rise reaching USD 18.589 billion, up USD 21 million in the reporting week.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose USD 8.310 billion to USD 686.145 billion in the week that ended on April 18.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.30% to 18.31. The Nifty 29 May 2025 futures were trading at 24,528, at a premium of 70.7 points as compared with the spot at 24,457.30.
The Nifty option chain for the 29 May 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 42.9 lakh contracts at the 24,500 strike price. Maximum put OI of 62.9 lakh contracts was seen at 24,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index rallied 1.26% to 8,625.75. The index shed 0.74% in the past three consecutive trading sessions.
Adani Enterprises (up 7.32%), Lloyds Metals & Energy (up 3.23%), NMDC (up 1.33%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.29%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.15%), Vedanta (up 1.1%), Steel Authority of India (up 1%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.96%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.9%) and Tata Steel (up 0.79%) advanced.
On the other hand, JSW Steel (down 0.89%), Jindal Stainless (down 0.21%) edged lower.
Stocks in Spotlight:
R R Kabel surged 16.35% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 64.04% to Rs 129.13 crore on a 26.44% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 2,217.84 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.
Netweb Technologies India surged 13.34% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 44.97% to Rs 42.99 crore on a 55.95% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 414.65 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.
Gravita India soared 6.04% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 37.90% to Rs 95.13 crore on 20.11% growth in revenue from operations to Rs 1,037.07 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q4 FY24.