Spices and baby food will be tested across the country: FSSAI

Benchmark equity indices opened with a gap up on Friday led by positive global cues. In opening trades, Sensex rose 400 points or 0.82% at 49,350 while the broader market index Nifty was trading near 14,850 at 14, 847 up 122 points or 0.83%.

28 out of 30 Sensex stocks were trading in the green. IndusInd Bank, M&M, SBI, NTPC and Axis Bank rallied as much as 2.5%. On the downside, Bajaj Auto lost 0.55% and PowerGrid was down 0.51%.

Sectorally, all indices traded in the green with the Nifty Metal index rallying 2.34% followed by Nifty Bank 1.07%. Nifty Auto, Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma & Nifty Realty indices rose up to 0.80%.

“The trend of positive news alternating with negative news continues. President Biden’s decision to back waiving intellectual property rights on vaccines is a big positive. This will quicken the vaccination process enabling countries like India to come out of the pandemic faster,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Buyers outnumbered sellers as 1,283 shares advanced versus 455 stocks declining and 506 scrips remained unchanged.

Earnings today:

Housing Development Finance Corporation, Ultratech Cement, Dabur India, Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Navin Fluorine International, Grindwell Norton, Godrej Agrovet, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals, EIH, The Great Eastern Shipping, Shriram Pistons & Rings, R Systems International, Reliance Power, Steel Strips Wheels, Sutlej Textiles & Industries, Everest Industries amongst others will be reporting their quarterly earnings today.

Stocks in spotlight:

On a consolidated basis, Hero MotoCorp posted 45.7% rise in net profit to Rs 880.94 crore on 35.52% rise in total income to Rs 8,795.76 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

M&M said that Mahindra Group has announced the setting up of Mahindra Advanced Design Europe (M.A.D.E) in the West Midlands, U.K. The new Centre of Excellence (CoE), will be a part of the Mahindra Global Design Network that includes the Mahindra Design Studio in Mumbai, India, and Pininfarina Design in Turin, Italy.

Tata Consumer Products reported a consolidated net profit to Rs 53.90 crore in Q4 March 2021 (Q4FY21) as compared with net loss of Rs 76.49 crore in Q4 March 2020 (Q4FY20). Total income rose 26.92% to Rs 3,080.18 crore.

On a consolidated basis, Adani Transmission posted 152.83% rise in net profit to Rs 238.42 crore on 7.3% fall in total income to Rs 3,075.35 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

Adani Power reported consolidated net profit to Rs 13.13 crore in Q4 March 2021 (Q4FY21) as compared with net loss of Rs 1,312.90 crore in Q4 March 2020 (Q4FY20). Total income rose 9.08% to Rs 6,902.01 crore.

Zensar announced that it has been selected by Infinity Circle, a UK-based fintech company in the wealth management space. Infinity Circle aims to bring together like-minded entrepreneurs, investors and game changers.

Aurionpro announced exit from the cybersecurity business with the sale of its investment to Forcepoint LLC., USA. The deal, for the divestment of all stake held by Aurionpro in its cyber security business is valued at a consideration of US$9.6 Million (approx. Rs 71 crore) which is net off all taxes and obligations.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks broadly advanced Friday ahead of the U.S. jobs report due later in the day that might provide some indication on what the Fed could do next. Investors will be looking ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payroll count for April due Friday.

China’s services sector expanded at the sharpest pace in four months in April. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 56.3, the highest since December when the same reading was registered and up from 54.3 in March. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

Japan’s services sector activity contracted in April. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 49.5 from the prior month’s 48.3, the slowest pace of activity decline in the current 15-month run of contractionary PMIs.

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday the recent jump in COVID-19 cases in India posed downside risks to the Fund’s April forecast for 12.5% growth in India’s economic output in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. The IMF will revisit that forecast when it issues a fresh World Economic Outlook in July, as per reports.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high on Thursday, bolstered by an upbeat weekly jobless claims report, while vaccine makers dipped after U.S. President Joe Biden backed plans to waive patents on COVID-19 shots.

The Bank of England said on Thursday it would slow the pace of its bond-buying as it sharply increased its forecast for Britain’s economic growth this year after its coronavirus slump. The BoE kept its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low of 0.1% and the size of its bond-buying programme unchanged at 895 billion pounds ($1.24 trillion).