Sensex zooms 1,070 pts; Nifty scales above 22,300, Tata Steel up 5.18%

The frontline indices traded in a narrow range with robust gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty marched above the 22,300 level. Metal, private bank and oil & gas shares advanced while media, healthcare and pharma stocks edged lower.

At 13:27 IST, the barometer index, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 1,069.85 points or 1.48% to 73,570.15. The Nifty 50 index gained 321.90 points or 1.46% to 22,304.70.

The Nifty and the Sensex hit all-time highs in afternoon trade at 22,318.65 and 73,639.34, respectively.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap rose 0.64% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.68%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,474 shares rose and 1,296 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s economy grew much faster than expected in the October to December quarter. Data showed GDP grew 8.4% in the third fiscal quarter on the back of higher private consumption and strong manufacturing and construction activity. The October-December quarter reading was also higher than the 7.6% growth clocked in the prior three months. The government raised its GDP growth outlook for fiscal year 2023-24 to 7.6% from 7.3% forecast earlier.

Meanwhile, India`s eight core sectors posted a growth of 3.6% in January, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on February 29. In December 2023, core sector growth had printed in at 3.8%. The commerce ministry, on February 29, revised this figure up to 4.9%.

Separately, the Central government`s fiscal deficit widened to Rs 11.03 lakh crore in April 2023-January 2024 from Rs 9.82 lakh crore in April-December, data released by the Controller General of Accounts showed on February 29.

Furthermore, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers� Index (PMI) recovered further from December`s 18-month low, rising from 56.5 in January to 56.9 in February. Production levels were raised in tandem with a further steep increase in inflows of new orders, besides advanced technology and buoyant demand conditions.

Gainers & Losers:

Tata Steel (up 5.18%), Larsen and Toubro (up 3.87%), JSW Steel (up 3.81%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.16%) and ICICI Bank (up 3.13%) major Nifty gainers.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.32%), HCL Technologies (down 0.84%), Britannia Industries (down 0.61%) Infosys (down 0.61%) and LTIMindtree (down 0.54%) were major Nifty losers.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rallied 3.87% after the company has commissioned its first indigenously manufactured electrolyser at the green hydrogen plant in Hazira, Gujarat.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 1.27% after the company announced that it has recorded 24% rise in total vehicle sales to 72,923 units in February 2023 from 58,801 units sold in the same period last year.

Waaree Renewable Technologies was locked in upper circuit of 5% after the company received letter of intent (LOI) from North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) for aggregating Rs 1,401 crore.

Borosil Renewables surged 5.64% after the securities issue committee of its board approved the proposal of raising of funds through issue of equity shares on rights issue basis for upto Rs 500 crore.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe advanced on Friday ahead of euro zone inflation data.

While, Asian stocks traded mixed as investors digested manufacturing data from the mainland. Japan�s Nikkei 225 index hit a fresh record high. South Korea markets were shut for the Movement Day holiday.

China�s manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in February, official figures on Friday showed. Data from China�s National Bureau of Statistics showed manufacturing PMI fell to 49.1 in February from 49.2 in January. The Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI, however, edged up to 50.9 in February from 50.8 in the previous month.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs as tech and chip stocks rallied. The U.S. personal consumer expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve`s preferred gauge for inflation, rose 0.3% in January from a month earlier. The core PCE price index rose 0.4%.

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