Mid-day update: NIFTY jumps 90 points higher, Reliance, HDFC Bank lift market up

The benchmark indices were trading in green after opening in the negative territory on Thurday. The 30-share index S&P BSE SENSEX was trading at 74,673.45 signifying a gain of 281.72 or 0.38% from its opening level. NIFTY 50 index was at 22,661.75 level, rising by 93.90 points or 0.42%.

Domestics markets are in green after the US Federal Reserve kept its key policy rates unchanged at 5.25%-5.50% during its May meeting for the sixth consecutive time. Also, the US Fed downplayed an interest rate hike scenario and took a less hawkish stance.

Interest rate hikes by the US Fed is negative for the emerging markets like India as it makes domestic markets unattractive for foreign investors to invest amid higher US bond yields that offers safety over riskier assets like equities.

Meanwhile, BANK NIFTY was bucking the positive trend as it was down by 197.55 points or 0.40% to 49,199.20 from its previous closing.

HDFC Bank, Reliance and ITC contributed nearly 39 points to the Nifty 50 tally.

According to the HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), manufacturing activity in India decreased in April, dropping to 58.8 from the 16-year high of 59.1 reached in March.

The market breadth was titled in favour of advances with 1,315 stocks advancing, 1,138 stocks declining and 133 stocks remaining unchanged.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones futures rose by 153 points or 0.40% to 38,222. The border markets were seen underperforming the frontline gauge with Nifty Midcap trading higher by 0.19%, while the Nifty Smallcap index was trading with a gain of 0.25%.

Sector-wise, the top-performing sectoral indices during the mid-day were Nifty Metal (+1.45%), Nifty Auto (+1.17%) and Nifty Energy (+1.04%). On the other hand, Nifty Realty (-1.45%), Nifty Media (-0.67%) and Nifty Bank (-0.23%) were seen trading in red.

Some of the trending stocks of the mid-afternoon session on the Nifty 500 index were Indiamart Intermesh Ltd, REC Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).

Indiamart Intermesh shares zoomed 9.10% to trade at ₹2,884.60 over its previous close of ₹2,643.90. Today, the intraday high and low of Indiamart Intermesh was ₹2,890 and ₹2,702, respectively. The stock rallied on the back of strong financial performance for the quarter ending on March 31, 2024, with a 78.04% YoY rise in the net profit. Further, the company has announced a final dividend of ₹20 with ex dividend date set for June 07, 2024.

REC Ltd rallied by 8.04% and was trading at ₹547.90 over its previous close of ₹507.15. Today, the intraday high and low of REC was ₹555.70 and ₹510.65, respectively. The stock hit a fresh 52-week high on the back of robust financial performance for the quarter that ended March 31, 2024, with a 33% rise in net profit to ₹4,079.09 crore.

The stock of HPCL jumped 6.54% in today’s session to trade at ₹527.80. The intraday high and low of HPCL was ₹ 529 and ₹ 504.50, respectively. The company has not made any significant announcements of late. Hence, the rally in the share price could be driven purely by the market forces.