Barometers extend intraday gains, metal stocks shine

The benchmark indices continued to extend gains and hit a fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. Positive global cues boosted the investors sentiment. The Nifty traded above the 18,100 level. Barring the Nifty Consumer Durables index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE were in the green with IT, PSU bank and metal stocks gaining the most.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 893.81 points or 1.49% to 60,794.18. The Nifty 50 index added 256.50 points or 1.44% to 18,115.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.87% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.82%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,360 shares rose and 1,059 shares fell. A total of 192 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 1.38% to 6,789.95. The index declined 0.95% in the past trading session.

Hindustan Copper (up 3.58%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.77%), MOIL (up 2.74%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.18%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.98%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.73%), Tata Steel (up 1.69%), JSW Steel (up 1.67%), Vedanta (up 1.28%) and Steel Authority of India (up 1.22%) advanced.

On the other hand, APL Apollo Tubes (down 0.91%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (down 0.37%) edged lower.

Tata Steel rose 1.69% after the steel maker said that the crude steel production of the India business in Q3 FY23 stood at 5 million tons and was up 4% on YoY and up 4% on QoQ basis. Deliveries of Tata Steel India were at 4.73 million tons and were up 7% YoY primarily driven by 11% growth in domestic deliveries, which also led to improvement in product mix.

Stocks in Spotlight:

One 97 Communications gained 2.12% after the company's loan distribution business recorded disbursals of Rs 3,665 crore in the month of December, growing 330% YoY. Consequently, total disbursements for three months ended December 2022 was Rs 9,958 crore, a growth of 357% YoY. The number of loans grew 117% YoY to 3.7 million for the month of December, and 137% YoY to 10.5 million cumulative loans for the three months ended December 2022.

Ashoka Buildcon rallied 3.60% after the company said that it has received letters of intent (LoI) for two projects from Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam and it has also emerged as the lowest bidder (L-1) for a project by NHAI.

JK Cement added 0.32% after the company's wholly owned subsidiary, JK Paints & Coatings (JKPCL), acquired 60% stake in Acro Paints (APL) at first tranche of Rs 153 crore.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks advanced as Hong Kong and mainland China resumed quarantine-free travel over the weekend, signaling the end of zero-Covid policy which kept borders effectively closed for nearly three years.

Wall Street's main indices advanced on Friday after December payrolls expanded more than expected even as wage increases slowed and services activity contracted, easing worries about the Federal Reserve's interest rate hiking path.

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