The domestic equity barometers extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty marched towards the 18,450 mark. Auto shares witnessed buying demand for sixth consecutive session. At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 360.65 points or 0.58% to 62,233.27. The Nifty 50 index added 104.80 points or 0.57% to 18,425.95. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.38% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.38%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,958 shares rose and 1,386 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 3.57% to 12.07. The Nifty 29 June 2023 futures were trading at 18,510.85, at a premium of 84.9 points as compared with the spot at 18,425.95.

The Nifty option chain for the 29 June 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 34 lakh contracts at the 19,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 44.6 lakh contracts were seen at 18,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index added 0.69% to 14,125.80. The index has advanced 2.60% in six sessions.

Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 2%), Tube Investments of India (up 1.79%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.26%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.07%) and Bosch (up 0.86%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Bharat Forge (up 0.81%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.71%), MRF (up 0.54%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.48%) and Tata Motors (up 0.42%).

On the other hand, Balkrishna Industries (down 1.3%), Samvardhana Motherson International (down 0.31%) and Ashok Leyland (down 0.07%) turned lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Prince Pipes and Fittings jumped 4.02%. The company reported 7% increase in net profit to Rs 94 crore despite a 15% fall in total sales to Rs 764 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Q4 FY22.

Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) fell 2.65%. The company's standalone net profit declined 17.7% to Rs 240.49 crore despite of 17.7% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,410.19 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q4 FY22.

MedPlus Health Services rallied 17.54%. The company's net proifit surged 126.6% to Rs 26.58 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Rs 11.73 crore in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations jumped 29.7% year on year to Rs 1252.98 crore in Q4 FY23.

Voltamp Transformers surged 17.91%. The company's net profit jumped 47.6% to Rs 76.57 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Rs 51.86 crore in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations jumped 13.6% year on year to Rs 439.86 crore in Q4 FY23.

Radico Khaitan declined 0.42%. The liquor maker's standalone net profit slipped 19.6% to Rs 37.26 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 46.36 crore recorded in Q4 FY22. Net revenue from operations was at Rs 831.84 crore during the quarter, up 2.4% from Rs 812.52 crore reported in the corresponding quarter previous year.