Wipro, HDFC Life among buzzing stocks as SENSEX jumps over 200 pts, NIFTY above 24,200 in noon deals

The Indian benchmark indices, SENSEX and NIFTY50, continued trading in the positive territory during the afternoon session on Friday, April 17, amid a rally in FMCG and capital market stocks.

The SENSEX hit an intraday high of 78,415.82. Meanwhile, the NIFTY50 reached session’s peak of 24,323.10.

At 12:45 PM, the S&P BSE SENSEX advanced by 239.38 points, or 0.31%, to stand at 78,228.06. NSE’s NIFTY50 was trading at 24,267.75, marking a 71-point, or 0.29% increase.

The top gainers of the NIFTY50 index included Hindustan Unilever (4.60%), Nestle India (2.61%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (1.89%), Power Grid Corporation of India (1.63%) and Asian Paints (1.50%).

On the flipside, HDFC Life Insurance Company (-2.74%), Wipro (-2.70%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (-1.13%), HCL Technologies (-1.08%) and Larsen & Toubro (-0.99%) were among the top losers.

Buzzing stocks on April 17: Check list

Shares of Wipro fell as much as 3.69% to touch an intraday low of ₹202.50 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, April 17, after the company's fourth quarter of the 2025-26 financial year (Q4 FY26) result announcement, as well as the much-awaited buyback programme.

The IT firm reported a consolidated net profit of ₹3,501.8 crore for the March quarter of FY26, down 1.89% from ₹3,569.6 crore a year ago.

The dip in profit comes against the backdrop of a challenging macroeconomic environment, which Wipro CEO and MD Srini Pallia described during the earnings call as the "new normal" marked by geopolitical and policy disruptions, though he noted that overall IT spending has shown resilience.

Wipro’s board has also approved a mega ₹15,000 crore share repurchase programme, proposing to buy back more than 5% of its equity, or up to 60 crore shares, from shareholders at ₹250 per share.

The stock of HDFC Life Insurance Company (HDFC Life) declined as much as 4% to hit an intraday low of ₹606.20 per equity share on the NSE, after it reported its earnings for Q4 FY26.

It reported a 4% YoY increase in its standalone profit after tax (PAT) to ₹495.65 crore in the March quarter of FY26, compared to ₹476.56 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing on April 16.

Its net premium income jumped 8.68% YoY to ₹25,829.43 crore for the reporting quarter, as against ₹23,765.56 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley noted that the life insurance company missed its VNB growth estimate, as it fell 8% YoY. However, its VNB margins remained stable, supported by an improvement in product mix. They noted that the company reported a weak 1% APE growth, impacted by a slowdown in Bancassurance and GST charges.

HDFC Life’s retail protection and annuity segments remained strong growth drivers. Furthermore, analysts expect a gradual recovery in FY27 with 16% VNB CAGR over FY27-28. They added that its valuations are attractive despite near-term growth challenges.

In the note, JPMorgan analysts stated that the company reported weak retail APE growth at 0.4% YoY in the March quarter, dragging total APE growth to just 1.3% YoY, which was 9.2% below estimates. Furthermore, they added that VNB margins disappointed, declining 260 bps YoY to 23.9%, resulting in a VNB decline of 8.6% YoY to ₹12.6 billion. It was 14.3% below expectations.

HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) shares soared as much as 4.91% to hit the session’s peak of ₹2,793 apiece, despite posting a 2.42% YoY decline in its standalone net profit to ₹623.29 crore.

In the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year, it had logged a profit of ₹638.73 crore, according to a regulatory filing.

On a sequential basis, its net profit reported a 19.06% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) dip from ₹770.09 crore in the December quarter of FY26.

HDFC AMC’s board of directors, at their meeting held on April 16, also considered and recommended a final dividend of ₹54 per equity share with a face value of ₹5 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2026.

Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) stock jumped as much as 6.11% to hit an intraday high of ₹311.85 per equity share on Friday, April 17, as it emerged as the lowest (L1) bidder for East Coast Railway's third and fourth lines between Nergundi-Barang (22Km) and Khurda Road-Vizianagaram (363Km) on the Bhadrak-Vizianagaram section (385Km).

The work includes the construction of three bridges on an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode on the Mahanadi, Kathjori, and Kuakhai rivers.

The company has to execute the said order within a period of three years, and the total size of the order is pegged at ₹967 crore, including goods and services tax (GST).

Shares of VST Industries rallied as much as 18.7% to hit an intraday high of ₹286.78 per unit, after the company released its latest March quarter earnings.

The company reported a 120.17% increase in its profit after tax to ₹116.69 crore in the quarter ended March 2026. The company had reported a net profit of ₹53 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Its revenue from operations advanced 51.85% to ₹689.4 crore in the quarter under review, compared to ₹453.98 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

The stock of Waaree Renewable Tech gained as much as 13.36% to touch the day’s peak of ₹1,202 per equity share, as the company announced healthy profit growth in its January to March quarter (Q4) results.

Its net profit surged 66% YoY to ₹155.70 crore, compared to ₹93.76 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

The company’s surge in net profits was largely driven by the skyrocketing revenue from operations, which jumped over 131% to ₹1,102 crore in the fourth quarter, compared to ₹476.57 crore in the same period a year ago.

Shares of Apollo Micro Systems advanced over 11% on Friday, on receiving an arms manufacturing license from the government.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) granted it the license to manufacture, assemble, integrate, and proof-test the following high-value strategic weapon systems and munitions.