At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 349.61 points or 0.42% to 73,130.84. The Nifty 50 index jumped 118.50 points or 0.54% to 22,222.55.

The broader market outperformed the key indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.99% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.56%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,662 shares rose and 1,044 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number is 1.26 % (Provisional) for the month of April, 2024 (over April, 2023). The uptick inflation is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, electricity, crude petroleum & natural gas, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing etc. The month over month change in WPI index for the month of April 2024 stood at 0.79 % as compared to March 2024. WPI inflation has hit a 13 month high now. It stood at 0.53% an annual basis in March.

Meanwhile, The annual inflation rate based on all India Consumer Price Index (CPI) number is 4.83% (provisional) for the month of April 2024 over April, 2023. Corresponding inflation rate for rural and urban is 5.43% and 4.11%, respectively. CPI for the months of January, February and March 2024 are 5.10, 5.09 and 4.85 respectively.

Gainers & Losers:

Adani Enterprises (up 4.99%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.67%), Hero Motocorp (up 2.46%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) (up 1.92%) and Hindalco Industries (up 1.82%) were major Nifty gainers.

Cipla (down 2.87%), Axis Bank (down 1.02%), Nestle India (down 0.75%), ICICI Bank (down 0.73%) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (down 0.73%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ethos surged 7.27% after the company’s consolidated net profit surged 58.36% to Rs 21.03 crore in Q4 FY24 as against Rs 13.28 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operation jumped 21.66% to Rs 252.52 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 207.57 crore posted in Q4 FY23.

Aarti Pharmalabs soared 17.13 after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 52.2% to Rs 65.25 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 42.87 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations increased 4.27% YoY to Rs 505.77 crore in Q4 FY24.

Electrosteel Castings rallied 4.59% after the company’s consolidated net profit zoomed 153.92% to Rs 227.08 crore in Q4 FY24 as against Rs 89.43 crore posted in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations grew by 7.04% year on year (YoY) to Rs 2,004.26 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

Jindal Steel & Power jumped 4.07% after the company ‘s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 933 crore , steeply higher than Rs 466 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations fell 1.5% to Rs 13,486.96 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 13,691.93 crore in Q4 FY23.

Chalet Hotels declined 2.93% after the company’s consolidated net profit zoomed 124.6% to Rs 82.44 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 36.71 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations jumped 23.8% YoY to Rs 418.26 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

DLF rose 0.21%. The realty major’s consolidated net profit increased 61.53% to Rs 920.71 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 570.01 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations grew 46.62% year on year (YoY) to Rs 2,134.81 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

Global Markets:

Most of the European stocks declined while Asia shares traded mixed as investors analyzed inflation data from Japan. Japan's wholesale inflation (corporate goods price index) rose slightly by 0.9% year-on-year in April.

US markets ended with mixed results. The Dow Jones snapped its winning streak with a 0.21% dip, while the S&P 500 barely budged. The Nasdaq managed a small gain of 0.29%. Apple and Alphabet (Google's parent company) rose despite early weakness.

Meme stocks like GameStop, AMC, and Koss soared due to speculation surrounding a potential return to social media by Keith Gill, the "Roaring Kitty" figure who ignited the meme-stock frenzy of 2021.