Indian equity markets shake off jitters to rise in morning trade led by metal, financial services and energy stocks

• India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 got rid of initial jitters to rise in morning trade on Thursday amid uncertainty about the US Fed’s pivot.
• The gains were led by stocks in the metal, financial services and energy sectors.
• Titan, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp and TVS are amongst stocks in focus today.

India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 got rid of initial jitters to rise in morning trade on Thursday amid uncertainty about the US Fed’s pivot. The gains were led by stocks in the metal, financial services and energy sectors.

Both Sensex and Nifty50 were up 0.2% in morning trade, with Sensex hovering at 61,311 points and Nifty50 at 18,124 points.

Top gainers and losers on Nifty50

Source: NSE, as on May 4, 2023
Earlier on Wednesday, markets snapped their winning streak with both the indices declining 0.3% on weakness in PSU bank, IT and metal stocks.

Gold and silver prices continued to climb, with gold touching ₹60,900 per 10 grams and silver at ₹75,450 per kilogram. On the other hand, rising concerns of an economic recession weighed on crude oil prices, with Brent crude falling to $72 per barrel.

Markets remain jittery about Fed pivot

Despite the wider expectations of a rate hike pause amid the banking sector crisis in the US, Fed chair Jerome Powell poured cold water over hopes of rate cuts in case inflation continues to remain hot. This worried US markets, with Dow Jones falling 0.8% and S&P 500 falling 0.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.5%.

Asian markets were more mixed, with Hang Seng rising 1% and Shanghai Composite gaining 0.4%. The Taiwan Weighted and Nikkei 225 indices were up 0.1%, while KOSPI fell 0.2%.

Stocks to watch

Earnings today: Adani Enterprises, Dabur, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Power, TVS Motor, United Breweries, IDFC, J&K Bank, Blue Star, Bombay Dyeing, Ceat, Sundaram Fasteners are among companies to deliver quarterly earnings today.

Titan: The branded jewellery maker reported 50% on year growth in standalone net profit for March quarter to ₹734 crore backed by the comeback in the wedding segment. Revenue from operations in Q4 rose 33% on year to ₹9,704 crore.

Hero MotoCorp: The two wheeler maker has announced the scale up of the presence of its electric scooter VIDA to 100 Indian cities this year. Besides, it has cut the price by ₹20,000 for VIDA V1 Plus and VIDA VI Pro, which may now cost ₹1.19 lakh and ₹1.39 lakh respectively.

Tata Chemicals: The company’s net profit jumped 53% on year to ₹711 crore for March quarter while revenue from operations rose nearly 27% on year to ₹4,407 crore.

Bajaj Consumer Care: The company posted nearly 13% on year growth in net profit at ₹40 crore while revenue from operations rose nearly 15% on year to ₹246 crore.

Tata Communications: The company’s Dutch arm has acquired New York based video production and distribution company The Switch Enterprises LLC for $58.8 million in an all cash deal. The acquisition will bring live production capabilities helping companies to produce high quality immersive content faster.

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