Benchmarks trade higher; oil & gas shares jump for 5th day

The key domestic indices traded with major gains in mid-afternoon trade, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar and robust earnings from heavyweight lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, both of which hit record highs and lifted overall sentiment in the banking sector. The Nifty traded near the 24,150 mark. Oil & gas shares advanced for the fifth consecutive trading session.

All eyes will also be on the upcoming Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), set to take place from April 21'26 in Washington, D.C. On the agenda: the ripple effects of trade tensions on global growth and updates on the progress of the World Bank and IMF's initiatives.

At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, zoomed 927.71 points or 1.18% to 79,480.79. The Nifty 50 index surged 294.35 points or 1.23% to 24,146.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 2.12% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.53%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,832 shares rose and 1,182 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.80% to 15.59.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index jumped 2.41% to 10,949.95. The index jumped 9.05% for the fifth trading session.

GAIL (India) (up 4.73%), Oil India (up 3.45%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 3.31%), Petronet LNG (up 3.03%), Mahanagar Gas (up 2.96%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 2.71%), Indraprastha Gas (up 2.24%), Reliance Industries (up 1.84%), Gujarat State Petronet (up 1.82%) and Aegis Logistics (up 1.76%) surged.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 0.21% to 4.336 as compared with the previous close of 4.339.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.0800, compared with its close of 85.3850 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 June 2025 settlement were rose 1.55% to Rs 96,651.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down1.40% to 97.99.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.21% to 4.336.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2025 settlement shed $ 1.44 or 2.12% to $66.52 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NHPC added 2.20% after the company said that it will consider raising up to Rs 2,000 crore through a private placement of bonds, with the board set to meet on 23 April 2025.

Godrej Agrovet declined 1.14%. The company has announced the reappointment of Balram Singh Yadav as the managing director (MD) of the company for a further period from 1 May 2025 to 31 August 2025.

Devyani International rallied 3.90% after the company announced that its board will meet on Thursday, 20 April 2025, to consider acquiring majority stake in Sky Gate Hospitality, which operates restaurants under the brand name, Biryani by Kilo.

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