At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 405.3 points or 0.65% to 62,433.20. The Nifty 50 index added 109.40 points or 0.60% to 18,424.20.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.58% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.51%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,909 shares rose and 1,552 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged.

On the political front, Congress has made a comeback in Karnataka, as per the results declared by the Election Commission. The Congress has won 136 seats, the BJP's tally has been reduced to 66 and the JD(S) 19.

Economy:

The provisional data for April 2023 shows a negative inflation rate of (-) 0.92% based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI), compared to a rate of 1.34% recorded in March 2023.

“Decline in the rate of inflation in April, 2023 is primarily contributed by fall in prices of basic metals, food products, mineral oils, textiles, non-food articles, chemical & chemical products, rubber & plastic products and paper & paper products,” the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, India's consumer price inflation continued to moderate and fell to an 18-month low of 4.70% in April on an annual basis. The reading stood at 5.66% in March. The consumer-price index (CPI) based inflation has remained within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6% for the second consecutive month. The consumer food price index also eased to 3.84% in April.

Separately, India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $7.196 billion to $595.976 billion in the week ended on May 5, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. The overall reserves had dropped by $4.532 billion to $588.78 billion in the previous reporting week. In October 2021, the country's forex reserve had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 2.06% to 13.12. The Nifty 25 May 2023 futures were trading at 18,442, at a premium of 17.8 points as compared with the spot at 18,424.20.

The Nifty option chain for the 25 May 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 32.7 lakh contracts at the 18,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 53.1 lakh contracts were seen at 18,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index advanced 1.06% to 14,058.55. The index was jumped 5.87% in past eight trading sessions.

Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 3.01%), Tata Motors (up 2.88%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.89%), Eicher Motors (up 1.41%), Ashok Leyland (up 1.04%), Bajaj Auto (up 1.02%), Tube Investments of India (up 0.97%), Samvardhana Motherson International (up 0.77%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.63%) and Balkrishna Industries (up 0.55%) edged higher.

On the other hand, TVS Motor Company (down 0.31%), MRF (down 0.27%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.25%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

VST Tillers Tractors rallied 12.87% after the company's net profit jumped 81.7% to Rs 40.15 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Rs 22.10 crore in Q4 FY22. Net sales increased 47.7% year on year to Rs 322.61 crore in Q4 FY23.

Hikal rose 3.40% after the company announced that it had concluded a recently conducted US FDA audit at its Gujarat-based facility with 'zero' observations from the American drug regulator. The five-day detailed pre-approval inspection of an API during the period from 8th to 12th May 2023 was concluded with 'zero 483 observations' from the US FDA agency.

Great Eastern Shipping Company (GE Ship) surged 6.63% after the company's consolidated net profit surged 282.04% to Rs 721.94 crore on 58.92% increase in net sales to Rs 1455.98 crore in Q4 March 2023 over Q4 March 2022.