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POST-MARKET REPORT (Special Trading session)
Sensex and Nifty were marginally up from the previous day’s close in the second leg of the special trading session of May 18, with financial services and FMCG stocks leading the gains.
The benchmark indices, at close, the Sensex was up 88.91 points or 0.12 percent at 74,005, and the Nifty was up 35.90 points or 0.16 percent at 22,502.
In the broader market, both BSE Midcap was up 0.5 percent and BSE Smallcap gained 0.8 percent. Further, the Nifty Midcap 100 closed 0.51% higher, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 benchmark indices, and closed 0.82% higher.
Shares of Nestle India Ltd (up 2.23%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (up 0.91%), Tata Motors Ltd (up 0.88%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (up 0.70%), and Hindalco Industries Ltd (up 0.66%) ended as top gainers.
On the other side, JSW Steel Ltd (down 1.79%), Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (down 0.42%), UltraTech Cement Ltd (down 0.37%), LTIMindtree Ltd (down 0.24%), and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (down 0.23%) were among the laggards.
Among sectors, the Nifty Media index was the top performer led by gains in Zee Entertainment after the company reported a profit of Rs 13 crore in the January-March quarter (Q4FY24). Following this, Nifty Energy and Nifty Infrastructure also clocked slim gains of up to 0.3 percent on May 18.
ECONOMY
India’s forex reserves jump $2.56 bn to $644.15 bn
India’s forex reserves jumped USD 2.561 billion to USD 644.151 billion for the week ended May 10, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the kitty had increased from USD 3.668 billion to USD 641.59 billion after three consecutive weeks of decline.
Indian container cargo to grow at 8% in FY25 amid Red Sea crisis: CareEdge Ratings
Indian container cargo volume is expected to grow by 8% at 342 million tonnes (mt) in FY25, amid the risk of a prolonged Red Sea crisis, CareEdge Ratings said on Thursday.
The slated connection of the Dedicated Freight Corridor to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in FY26, alongside capacity additions by ports, is expected to drive growth in container volumes over the medium term, the rating agency said in a sectoral report.
Gold heads for second weekly gain, silver hits 11-year high
Gold prices were on track for a second consecutive weekly gain on Friday due to improved interest rate cut expectations, providing support to silver which broke through the $30 milestone and hit an 11-year high.
Spot gold rose 0.9% to $2,396.81 per ounce by 1304 GMT. Bullion prices are up 1.5% so far this week after hitting a one-month high on Thursday.
GLOBAL MARKETS
US markets traded mixed after hitting new highs this week
The US, stock markets ended mixed on Friday with the Dow Jones closing above the 40,000 mark for the first time and other indexes also scoring weekly gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 134.21 points, or 0.34%, to 40,003.59, while the S&P 500 rose 6.17 points, or 0.12%, to 5,303.27. The Nasdaq Composite ended 12.35 points, or 0.07%, lower at 16,685.97.
Asian stocks ease on uncertainty over the timing of US rate cuts
Asian stocks inched lower on Friday after Federal Reserve officials suggested that interest rates may need to stay higher for longer even as inflation shows early signs of easing.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.48%, while China stocks grinded higher, with the blue-chip gauge gaining 0.15% in early trading. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was the bright spot for Asia, rising 0.77% and touching its highest since August 2023.
STOCKS TODAY
Nestle India: Shares gained 3 percent after the majority of shareholders voted against an increase in royalty payout to Nestle S.A.The ordinary resolution stated that Nestle India would pay royalties to Nestle S.A. The royalty payment rate will start at 4.5 percent of the net sales of the company’s products and will increase by 0.15 percent each year, reaching a maximum of 5.25 percent over five years.
NHPC: Shares of NHPC fell over 2 percent in trade on May 18 after the company reported a decline in its net profit for Q4FY24. NHPC reported an 18 percent YoY decline in net profit to Rs 610.93 crore for Q4FY24, against Rs 745.27 crore in the same period last year. Sequentially, the net profit also saw a marginal decline against Rs 628.44 crore in Q3FY24. Revenue fell to Rs 1,888.14 crore against Rs 2,028.77 crore in the previous fiscal.
Hindustan Aeronautics: Shares surged over 4 percent to hit a record high of Rs 4,742 after Jefferies reaffirmed its bullishness on the stock and hiked the target price on positive growth prospects. The brokerage maintains a ‘buy’ call on the stock and raised the target price to Rs 5,725, implying an upside potential of over 26 percent from the current market levels. The previous price target was Rs 3,900. Jefferies says the company is ‘flying high’ and there is clear visibility.
BKT Industries: Shares of Balkrishna Industries Limited surged 5 percent and were locked in the upper circuit after the company’s fiscal fourth quarter impressed Street. It reported a massive 87.4 percent increase in net profit to Rs 486.8 crore.