Bourses gain big on strong earnings

Indian shares recovered from a muted start and logged gains on Friday, posting the highest monthly gain in five months, boosted by a slew of earnings. Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 460 points to reclaim the 61,000 mark while the Nifty closed above the 18,000 level on Friday, propelled by robust buying in index majors Reliance Industries and ITC amid fresh foreign fund inflows.The benchmark Nifty 50 has risen 4.06% in April, its best month since November 2022.

"Buy dips in May, do not shy away," wrote five equity analysts at ICICI Direct Research in a note on Friday. "The index has recovered from March low, absorbing global and domestic headwinds and could inch towards 18,300-18,500 in May."

Rallying for the fifth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 463.06 points or 0.76% to settle at 61,112.44. During the day, it surged 560.08 points or 0.92% to 61,209.46. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 149.95 points or 0.84% to finish at 18,065, with 40 of its scrips ending in the green.


The relative strength index on Nifty was 71 at market close, suggesting that the benchmark may be overbought.

All the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced, with information technology stocks, public sector banks and media rising over 1% each.

Financials recovered from a weak start and closed 0.34% higher. But gains were capped as private lender Axis Bank fell 2.43% after posting a wider-than-expected one-time loss, mainly on expenses from the $1.41 billion Citi deal.

Wipro rose nearly 3% after approving a buyback worth ₹12,000 crore. The IT firm posted a marginal slide in net profit.
Financials has risen 6.11% in April, on strong earnings and healthy profitability metrics.

IT, however, has fallen 4.39% since April 12, when Tata Consultancy Services reported its quarterly numbers, as weak outlook from IT firms on client spends spurred a decline.

Among individual stocks, Glenmark Life Sciences surged over 5%, hitting a new 52-week high. The company, which reported a 48% year-on-year rise in net profit, is among the top gainers in pharma, which rose 0.76%.

Domestic equities will be closed on Monday (May 1, 2023), for a public holiday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth ₹1,652.95 crore, according to exchange data.