Nifty scale above 22,600; metal shares rally

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in morning trade, breaking a three-week losing streak, supported by positive domestic economic data that boosted investor confidence. The Nifty traded above the 22,600 level. Metal shares extended gains for the sixth consecutive trading session.

The upcoming trading week will be shorter due to holidays, with market participants closely monitoring both global and domestic events.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 205.14 points or 0.28% to 74,571.42. The Nifty 50 index added 66 points or 0.29%, to 22,618.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.02% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.62%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,714 shares rose and 1,915 shares fell. A total of 183 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's forex reserves dropped by $1.781 billion to $638.698 billion in the week ended February 28, the RBI said on Friday.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $493 million to $543.35 billion.

Gold reserves decreased by $1.304 billion to $73.272 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $27 million to $17.998 billion, the apex bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF fell by $12 million to $4.078 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index added 0.95% to 9,012.10. The index surged 9.64% in six consecutive trading sessions.

JSW Steel (up 1.61%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.5%), Adani Enterprises (up 1.22%), Tata Steel (up 1.21%) and NMDC (up 1.1%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.02%), Steel Authority of India (up 0.85%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 0.62%), Vedanta (up 0.55%) and Welspun Corp (up 0.38%) advanced.

On the other hand, Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (down 1.10%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.08%) and Hindustan Copper (down 0.94%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Coal India (CIL) rose 0.75%. The company said that it has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) to develop clean coal technologies, diversification in coal utilization.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries added 0.19%. The company said that it has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc., an immunotherapy and targeted oncology company.

Lupin gained 0.44%. The pharma major announced that it has launched Rivaroxaban tablets USP, 2.5 mg, in the US market following final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA).

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