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Late rally helps Nifty reclaim 18,000 mark, Sensex tops 61k; PSU Bank, IT shine

Investors continue to have faith in the Indian economy despite the current global macroeconomic challenges. Indian market is on its way to end in the green for eighth session in a row as it gains 2.5% this week.

Traders are also keeping an eye on the US monetary policy meeting scheduled for May 2-3.

Indices end the week strongly thanks to a final-hour rally as Sensex ends 460 pts higher and Nifty 150 pts

Indian shares started on a muted but picked up steam and ended with gains for 8th session in a row thanks to a late rally. Sensex and Nifty rose more than 2% this week.

Markets were initially dragged by financials after Axis Bank’s weaker-than-expected March quarter result, but a rally in PSU Bank and IT stocks along with positive global cues helped indices end in the green with solid gains.

Nifty 50 reclaimed the 18,000 mark and ended at 18,065, a jump of 150 points. S&P BSE Sensex jumped 463 points to close above 61,000, at 61,112.

Fourteen out of 15 Nifty broad sectoral indices ended with gains.

PSU Bank jumped almost 2.5% and led the rally.

IT and Media also registered more than a per cent gain each. Consumer Durable remained the only sector to have declined as it shed 0.3%.

Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Britannia, Nestle and Wipro topped the Nifty stock chart and gained more than 2.5% each.

Axis Bank shed 2.4% after a disappointing earnings.

JSW Steel, Titan and ONGC also featured among the laggards in today’s session.

Asian stocks enjoyed solid gains on Friday after a big finish on Wall Street, with renewed investor confidence and strong earnings by major industry players driving shares up.

Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to an eight-month high after the Bank of Japan left its ultra-easy monetary policy settings unchanged, adding to the boost from a series of strong domestic earnings.

The Nikkei gained 1.4%.

The broader Topix ended 1.23% higher to its strongest level since March 9.

China stocks rose on Friday ahead of an expected record-high travel rush over the Labour Day holiday, with information technology (IT) and financials shares leading the gains.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 1%, while the Shanghai Composite Index finished 1.1% higher.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index edged up 0.3%, while the China Enterprises Index added 0.4%.

European shares rose on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, bolstered by strong corporate earnings, while investors awaited estimates of the euro zone’s first-quarter GDP growth to assess the strength of the region’s economies.

The UK’s FTSE 100 edged higher on Thursday, snapping a three-day losing streak as markets cheered upbeat corporate updates, while shares of Capricorn Energy fell due to a full-year operating loss.

Star Health rallies on 13% growth in gross written premium and highest ever PAT of Rs. 619 Cr in FY23

The shares of Star Health and Allied Insurance Company ended today’s trading session on a green note after it declares impressive FY23 performance.

One of India’s leading health insurance company, registered a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs. 12,952 crore in FY23, a growth of 13% over the same period a year ago period at 11,463.47 Cr.

Whereas its GWP was 4199.23 cr during Q4FY23 as against 3096.68 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

Star Health’s profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs. 619 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2023, against a loss of Rs. 1,041 crore in FY22.

During the quarter ended March 2023, the company’s net profit reached 101.79 cr as against a net loss of 82.04 Cr during Q4FY22.

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