The key equity indices traded with decent gains in morning trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,200 level. PSU bank shares witnessed bargain hunting after declining in the past five trading sessions.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 228.03 points or 0.32% to 73,320.54. The Nifty 50 index added 91.10 points or 0.41% to 22,238.10.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.64% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.11%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,531 shares rose and 980 shares fell. A total of 206 shares were unchanged.

Results Today :

Reliance Industries (up 0.37%), Aarti Surfactants (up 1.49%), Aditya Birla Money (up 2.77%), Mahindra Logistics (down 0.66%), Rallis India (up 0.23%), Tejas Networks (up 1.74%), Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (up 2.82%), Hatsun Agro Product (up 0.37%), Kesoram Industries (up 1.31%), K P Energy (up 4.52%), Rajratan Global Wire (up 0.84%), and Trident Lifeline (up 1.25%) will announce their quarterly earnings later in the day.

Economy:

The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections for the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24 show that Net collections are at Rs. 19.58 lakh crore, compared to Rs. 16.64 lakh crore in the preceding Financial Year i.e. FY 2022-23, representing an increase of 17.70%.

The Budget Estimates (BE) for Direct Tax revenue in the Union Budget for FY 2023- 24 were fixed at Rs. 18.23 lakh crore which were revised and the Revised Estimates (RE) were fixed at Rs. 19.45 lakh crore. The provisional Direct Tax collections (net of the refunds) have exceeded the BE by 7.40% and RE by 0.67%.

Meanwhile, India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves declined $5.401 billion to $643.162 billion during the week ended April 12, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, overall reserves had risen $2.88 billion to a new high of $648.562 billion.

For the week ended April 12, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $6.513 billion to $564.653 billion, according to the data released on April 19.

Gold reserves continued their rise and increased by $1.241 billion to $55.798 billion during the week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down $93 million to $18.077 billion, the RBI said.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $35 million to $4.634 billion in the reporting week, the central bank data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index gained 1.64% to 7,007.10. The index fell 4.89% in the past five trading sessions.

Canara Bank (up 3.14%), Punjab National Bank (up 2.38%), Union Bank of India (up 2.13%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 1.78%), Central Bank of India (up 1.69%), Bank of India (up 1.62%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 1.3%), Indian Bank (up 1.3%), Bank of Baroda (up 1.17%) and Indian Overseas Bank (up 1.14%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) shed 0.93%. The asset management company’s standalone net profit jumped 43.83% to Rs 541.09 crore on 33.4% rise in total income to Rs 850.89 crore in Q4 FY24 over Q4 FY23.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) jumped 6.93% after the company’s net profit jumped 33% to Rs 337.38 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 253.62 crore in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations increased 33.6% to Rs 1,339.77 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 1,002.67 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year.

Zydus Lifesciences rose 2.01% after the company announced the launch launch of Mirabegron Extended-Release Tablets in the US market, following the receipt of final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for the same.