Sensex, Nifty50 surge in morning trade led by banking and metal stocks

• India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 surged in morning trade on Thursday amid positive cues in global markets.
  
• The gains were led by stocks in the banking and metal sectors.
  
• Both Sensex and Nifty50 were up by 0.3%, with Sensex hovering at 61,742 points and Nifty50 at 18,230 points.

India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 surged in morning trade on Thursday amid positive cues in global markets. The gains were led by stocks in the banking and metal sectors.

Both Sensex and Nifty50 were up by 0.3%, with Sensex hovering at 61,742 points and Nifty50 at 18,230 points.

Top gainers and losers on Nifty50

Top gainers	Change	Top losers	Change
Bajaj Finance	1.43%	Divi's Laboratories	-3.24%
Axis Bank	1.21%	Adani Ports & SEZ	-1.64%
JSW Steel	1.07%	Eicher Motors	-0.91%
HDFC Life	0.90%	Hindustan Unilever	-0.77%
Hindalco Industries	0.78%	M&M	-0.69%

Source: NSE, as on May 18, 2023
Earlier on Wednesday, markets lost momentum and closed the day in the red as metals, realty and IT stocks dragged the indices down.

Gold prices edged lower to ₹60,100 per 10 grams while silver was hovering at ₹72,700 per kilogram. Crude oil prices edged up, with Brent crude hovering at $77 per barrel.

Optimism on debt ceiling drives markets up

Optimism about the US revising the debt ceiling upwards and not defaulting drove the US markets on Wednesday. While the Dow Jones closed 1.24% up on Wednesday, S&P 500 gained 1.19%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied 1.28%.

Asian markets were in the green on Thursday morning, with Nikkei 225 gaining 1.44%, followed by Hang Seng which was up 1.42%. Taiwan Weighted rallied 1.1%, followed by Shanghai Composite which was up 0.66%, while KOSPI gained 0.54%.

Stocks to watch

Earnings today: SBI, ITC, InterGlobe Aviation, Tata Elxsi, GAIL India, United Spirits, Zydus Lifesciences, Ramco Cements, PI Industries, Gland Pharma, Bata India, RITES, PNB Housing Finance, Syrma SGS Technology, Clean Science and Technology, Thomas Cook (India) and Ujjivan Financial Services are among companies to release their quarterly earnings today.

HDFC Bank, HDFC: The RBI has approved asset management company SBI Funds Management’s proposal to acquire 9.99% stake in HDFC Bank. Currently, the AMC holds 5.07% stake in HDFC Bank and 3.79% stake in HDFC.

Adani Group: The investment arm of Goldman Sachs Group reduced its exposure to Adani Group drastically in its ESG portfolios in the weeks following allegations of fraud by Hindenburg Research, as per Bloomberg report.

Devyani International: The company which has the franchisee of KFC, Pizza Hut, reported a 20% fall in its net profit at ₹60.7 crore in March quarter while revenue rose 28% to ₹755 crore.

PVR Inox: Following merger, the multiplex operator PVR Pictures has been renamed as PVR INOX Pictures. The merged entity operates 361 cinemas with 1,689 screens across 115 cities till FY23 in India and Sri Lanka.

Vedant Fashions: Ravi Modi Family Trust, a promoter entity in the clothing brand Manyavar, has launched an offer for sale to slash its shareholding by 9.88%. The floor price for the OFS will be ₹1,161 per share, which is at a discount of 6.84% against the last closing price.