The headline equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty scaled above the 22,250 mark. Pharma shares advanced after declining in the past two trading sessions.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 390.73 points or 0.53% to 73,474.24. The Nifty 50 index added 138.75 points or 0.63% to 22,285.75.

The broader market outperformed the key indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.92% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.33%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,656 shares rose and 1,016 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged.

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 Pharma index gained 1.27% to 18,639. The index fell 1.55% in the past two trading sessions.

Lupin (up 3.52%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 2.96%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 2.86%), Biocon (up 2.52%), Alkem Laboratories (up 2.17%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.06%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (up 1.94%), Divis Laboratories (up 1.75%), Granules India (up 1.23%) and Laurus Labs (up 1.06%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Lupin rallied 3.45% after the pharma major announced that it has received an approval from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for the launch of Mirabegron extended-release tablets, 25 mg, in the United States.

Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy rose 0.88%. The ccompany has reported a net profit of Rs 1 crore in Q4 FY24 as against a net loss of Rs 421 crore posted in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations in the fourth quarter surged to Rs 1,178 crore. The company’s revenue for the same period last year was Rs 88 crore.

JSW Energy shed 0.97%. JSW Neo Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of JSW Energy received letter of award (LoA) for setting up of 700 MW ISTS connected solar power project from NTPC.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Monday as the focus shifted from Middle East tensions to company earnings and economic data for insight into the direction of central bank policy. Investors look to fresh data points out of China, Japan and South Korea this week.

China’s central bank left its one- and five-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.45% and 3.95%, respectively on Monday. The one-year LPR is seen as the peg for most household and corporate loans, while the five-year LPR is the benchmark for most property mortgages.

In US, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed sharply lower on Friday as investors juggled lackluster earnings, uncertainties surrounding central bank policy and geopolitical strife.