The domestic equity benchmarks pared all losses and traded with decent gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 22,050 mark after hitting the day's low of 21,777.65 in early trade. Metal, private bank and financial services shares advanced while realty, media and pharma stocks declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 226.24 points or 0.30% to 72,696.41. The Nifty 50 index added 50.25 points or 0.23% to 22,046.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.49% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.13%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,648 shares rose and 2,025 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.

Politics:

India is gearing up for its election in 2024. The BJP is looking to consolidate its grip on power as it aims for a historic third term while a band of opposition parties, including the Congress, has formed a united front called INDIA to deny PM Modi another victory. The elections will occur in 7 phases, starting on 19 April and ending on 1 June. The Lok Sabha elections 2024 results will declared on 4 June.

Gainers & Losers:

Grasim Industries (up 1.77%), HDFC Bank (up 1.72%), ITC (up 1.52%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.44%) and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (up 1.41%) were major Nifty gainers.

Bajaj Auto (down 2.77%), HCL Technologies (down 1.38%), Tata Motors (down 1.32%), Nestle India (down 1.23%) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.20%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Infosys shed 0.81%. The IT major's consolidated net profit jumped 30.51% to Rs 7,969 crore in Q4 FY24 from Rs 6,106 crore in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations declined 2.31% to Rs 37,923 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 38,821 crore in Q3 FY24. In terms of guidance, the company has revised its FY25 revenue guidance to 1%-3% in constant currency and operating margin guidance at 20%-22%.

Bajaj Auto slipped 2.77%. The auto major’s standalone net profit jumped 35.11% to Rs 1,936 crore on 28.97% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 11,484.68 crore in Q4 FY24 over Q4 FY23.

ICICI Securities rose 0.61%. The broking firm’s consolidated net profit zoomed 104.3% to Rs 536.53 crore in Q4 FY24 as against Rs 262.68 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Total income was at Rs 1,544.44 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024, registering a growth of 74.5% year on year (YoY).

ITC added 1.52% after the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, ITC Infotech India has entered into Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 100% stake in Blazeclan Technologies for total consideration of Rs 485 crore.

Network18 Media & Investments declined 2.58% after the company’s consolidated net loss widened to Rs 206.92 crore in Q4 FY24 as against a Rs 35.19 crore recorded in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations climbed 63.06% year on year to Rs 2,419.28 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks declined on Friday as reports of Israeli strikes on Iran further ramped up concerns over worsening geopolitical conditions in the Middle East. Israel, early Friday morning local time, launched missiles in a retaliatory strike against Iran, as per reports. The missile launches follow Iran's attack last Saturday.

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Thursday in another jittery day of trade, as investors focused on rising bond yields and uncertain oil prices.