BROADER MARKET OUTPERFORMS; MEDIA SHARES IN DEMAND

The headline equity benchmarks continued to trade with limited losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 22,550 mark after hitting the day`s high of 22,620.40 in early trade. Media shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading session.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 145.20 points or 0.20% to 74,192.33. The Nifty 50 index lost 35.30 points or 0.16% to 22,535.05.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.70% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.62%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,156 shares rose and 1,392 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.

Politics:

The second phase of voting, scheduled for April 26, encompasses 89 constituencies across 13 states and Union territories. The BJP seeks a third consecutive term, while the opposition, including the Congress, has united under the banner of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc to thwart PM Modi`s re-election. The extensive Lok Sabha elections 2024 span seven phases from April 19 to June 1, with the results set to be announced on June 4.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index gained 1.79% to 1,922.40. The index rallied 2.27% in two consecutive trading sessions.

Saregama India (up 7.07%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 3.89%), Sun TV Network (up 1.82%), Tips Industries (up 1.63%), Dish TV India (up 1.4%) and TV18 Broadcast (up 0.11%) advanced.

On the other hand, Network 18 Media & Investments (down 1.56%), Nazara Technologies (down 0.36%) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 0.22%) edeged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) advanced 2.76% after the company announced that its board has approved the appointment of Koppu Sadashiv Murthy as chief financial officer (CFO) with effect from 24 April 2024.

InterGlobe Aviation added 2.42% after the company agreed to place an order for 30 Firm A350-900 aircraft, which will enable IndiGo expand its network. From the various Indian metros, IndiGo will be able to connect to the world.

Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores (SMIORE) slipped 1.14%. The company said that it has signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) with an entity affiliated with ADV Partners, an Asia-focused private equity firm, to acquire a controlling interest in Arjas.

Global Markets:

Most of the Asian stocks advanced on Friday after Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept monetary policy unchanged. Holding its benchmark policy rate at 0%-0.1%

The BOJ now expects inflation between 2.5% and 3% for fiscal 2024, up from 2.2% to 2.5% in its January forecast.

US stocks dropped on Thursday after data showed a sharp slowdown in economic growth and pointed to persistent inflation.

The US economy grew last quarter at the slowest pace in two years as consumer and government spending cooled amid a sharp pickup in inflation. The US gross domestic product (GDP) increased at a 1.6% annualized rate in January-March 2024. The economy grew at a 3.4% rate in the fourth quarter.

Inflation surged, with the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding food and energy, increasing at a 3.7% rate after rising at 2% in the fourth quarter.

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