Domestic equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in early trade. The Nifty traded above the 18,350 mark. Media, PSU bank and IT stocks advanced while pharma, financial services and bank shares corrected. At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 149.43 points or 0.24% to 62,022.05. The Nifty 50 index added 41.90 points or 0.23% to 18,363.05. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.23% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.35%. The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,818 shares rose and 820 shares fell. A total of 86 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 589.10 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 338.44 crore in the Indian equity market on 25 May, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.74%. RIL said that Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), the FMCG arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) has completed the acquisition of 51% controlling stake in Lotus Chocolate Company for an aggregate consideration of Rs. 74 crore. It also subscribed to non-cumulative redeemable preference shares of Lotus Chocolate Company for an aggregate consideration of Rs 25 crore. RCPL has also completed the acquisition of equity shares pursuant to the open offer. RRVL is subsidiary of RIL.

Voltas added 0.14%. Voltas laid the groundwork and performed Bhoomi Pujan at Madharapakkam, Thiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu, for its new Air Conditioner factory. The construction of the new manufacturing facility is spread over 150 acres. The Company has planned to invest over Rs 500 crores in this factory, for RAC manufacturing, over the next couple of years.

Religare Enterprises advanced 0.82%. Religare Enterprises'wholly owned subsidiary Religare Finvest has now received the No- Dues Certificates (NDC) from all Sixteen Secured One Time Settlement (OTS) lenders against their total outstanding dues including dues toward their unsecured exposure, as per the terms of the OTS Agreement. Accordingly, the OTS stands completed.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.17% to 7.019 as compared with previous close of 7.007.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.7125, compared with its close of 82.7250 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2023 settlement rose 0.14% to Rs 59,542.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.11% to 104.12.

The United States 10-year bond yield skid 0.10% to 3.810.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for July 2023 settlement shed 22 cents or 0.29% to $76.04 a barrel.

Global markets:

Asian stocks were trading mixed on Friday, apart from standout gains in Japan, as an artificial intelligence rally took a breather and as time ticked out on high-stakes talks to avoid a U.S. debt default.

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Thursday after a blowout forecast from Nvidia sent the chipmaker's stock soaring and fueled a rally in AI-related companies, while investors watched for signs of progress in U.S. debt ceiling talks.

US Republican negotiators on Thursday said some progress had been made in debt-ceiling talks, though a deal has not yet been reached.