At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 223.94 points or 0.31% to 73,002.12. The Nifty 50 index added 81.95 points or 0.37% to 22,186.

The broader market outperformed the key indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.78% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.44%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,611 shares rose and 1,043 shares fell. A total of 133 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.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.43% to 20.51. The Nifty 30 May 2024 futures were trading at 22,262, at a premium of 76 points as compared with the spot at 22,186.

The Nifty option chain for the 30 May 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 30.7 lakh contracts at the 23,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 37.6 lakh contracts were seen at 21,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index gained 1.32% to 22,758.80. The index fell 1.69% in the past trading session.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.42%), Bosch (up 2.83%), Hero MotoCorp (up 2.33%), TVS Motor Company (up 2.14%), Samvardhana Motherson International (up 1.96%), Balkrishna Industries (up 1.63%), Ashok Leyland (up 1.58%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.16%), Cummins India (up 0.9%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.64%) advanced.

On the other hand, Tube Investments of India (down 3.05%), Apollo Tyres (down 1.14%) and MRF (down 0.11%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight :

Electrosteel Castings rallied 4.35% 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.

Praveg added 1.41% after the company has announced the acquisition of a new land lease for the development of Cave Resort in Jawai, Rajasthan.