Indian equity indices ended with robust gains on Friday. After opening at 17,210.35, the Nifty 50 index marched higher as the session progressed to settle above the 17,350 mark. All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended higher. IT and banks shares rallied. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 1,031.43 points or 1.78% to 58,991.52. The Nifty 50 index gained 279.05 points or 1.63% to 17,359.75. Reliance Industries (up 4.29%), ICICI Bank (up 3.08%), Infosys (up 3.19%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.34%) boosted the indices.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.96% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.35%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,393 shares rose and 1,165 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 5.08% to 12.94.

Investor sentiment was upbeat as concerns of further banking turmoil receded. However, traders remained cautious following a higher-than-expected German CPI, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to further tighten monetary policy.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.318 from 7.296 previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.20, compared with its close of 82.34 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement added 0.12% to Rs 59,386.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.27% to 102.42.

The United States 10-year bond yield advanced 0.42% to 3.566.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement rose 6 cents or 0.08% to $ 79.33 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Friday as technology stocks continued to see renewed interest and led gains on Wall Street, with some shaking off concerns of a further banking crisis.

US stocks rose on Thursday as investors are looking towards more clarity from US regulatory agencies on struggling banks and shares of technology and bank stocks mostly remained flat.

President Joe Biden urged federal regulators Thursday to take up a set of reforms to safeguard the banking system, following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

The administration wants regulators to take a range of steps to reinstate safeguards for banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion and "strengthen oversight and regulation of larger banks so that we are not in this position again," the White House said on Thursday.

In major political development, Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday in a probe of hush money payments to a porn star during his 2016 campaign — a historic event in American law and politics.

The 45th president, the first former Oval Office occupant to be indicted, will be fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken like any criminal defendant when he comes to New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan to face the charges, court officials have reportedly said.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) zoomed 4.29%. The company initiated the process of demerging its financial services business.

RIL has convened a meeting of creditors and shareholders on 2 May 2023 to seek their approvals for demerging its financial services business into a separate entity and subsequent listing it on the stock exchanges. The voting will commence on 27 April 2023 and end on 1 May 2023, RIL said in a regulatory update. The conglomerate's board had approved the demerger in November 2022.

At present, Reliance Strategic Investments (RSIL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL and is an RBI-registered non-deposit-taking systemically important non-banking financial company. Post demerger, RSIL will be rechristened to Jio Financial Services (JFSL).

According to the contours of the deal, RIL will issue one share of the demerged company with a value of Rs 10 each for every one share held in RIL. The appointed date for the demerger is 31 March 2023. Upon the scheme becoming effective, the name of the demerged firm will be changed to JFSL and the new firm will be listed on the Indian bourses.

Tata Power Company gained 2.45% after the company said that its board has approved the re-appointment of Dr. Praveer Sinha as the CEO & managing director (MD) of the company for a period of four years effective from 1 May 2023.

JSW Steel rose 1.30% after the company said it has been declared as preferred bidder by Ministry of Coal, Government of India in an auction for coal mines in Chattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Bharat Electronics surged 6.62% after the company secured 12 contracts worth of Rs 8194 crore from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers jumped 5.39%. The company said that it has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for construction of four next generation offshore patrol vessels (NGOPV) for Rs 3,500 crore. The first vessel is to be delivered within 44 months from contract signing and subsequent vessels at six months intervals.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals jumped 4.90%. The company on Thursday announced that it has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA), Brimonidine Tartrate Ophthalmic solution.

Tata Consumer Products added 1.78%. The FMCG major on Wednesday announced that its board has approved the re-appointment of L Krishnakumar as whole-time director designated as executive director and Group CFO, for a seven-month term, effective from 1 April 2023.

Aether Industries rose 3.62%. The company said that it has executed a letter of intent (LoI), effective on 29 March 2023 with Saudi Aramco Technologies Company, Saudi Arabia. The letter of intent (LoI) captures the preliminary terms regarding the finalization of a detailed licensing polyols agreement towards the manufacturing and commercialization at Aether of the Converge technology and product series, the manufacturing process for which has been previously jointly developed and validated at commercial scale by Aramco and Aether.

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) added 1.32%. The company said that it has received income tax refund order worth Rs 790.66 crore from the Office of Joint Commissioner of Income Tax (OSD) for the assessment years 2013-14 & 2014-15.

Maharashtra Seamless advanced 1.20%. The company announced that it has received orders from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) with cumulative basic value of Rs 537 crore for supply of seamless casing pipes.