Nifty trades above 18,150 mark; market breadth strong.

STREET INVESTMENT

The key equity benchmarks traded with decent gains in morning trade. The Nifty traded above the 18,150 level. IT, banks and autos advanced while realty and healthcare stocks lagged behind.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 236.24 points or 0.39% to 61,177.91. The Nifty 50 index added 62.45 points or 0.34% to 18,181.

Infosys (up 1%), IndusInd Bank (up 0.83%), Asian Paints (up 0.72%), Bajaj Finserv (up 0.68%) and Wipro (up 0.64%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Bharti Airtel (down 0.61%), Power Grid Corp (down 0.51%), Grasim (down 0.50%), SBI Life (down 0.42%) and JSW Steel (down 0.37%) were the top Nifty losers.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.41%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,779 shares rose, and 801 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Axis Bank shed 0.55%. The private lender's net profit surged 61.94% to Rs 5,853.07 crore on 27.44% increase in total income to Rs 26,891.87 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Tata Motors rose 1.79%. The company has confirmed that the voluntary delisting of its American Depositary Shares (ADS), representing ordinary shares of the company, from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will become effective close of trading on the NYSE on 23 January 2023. This follows the filing by the company of Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 13 January 2023.

Poonawalla Fincorp jumped 5.29%. On a consolidated basis, the NBFC reported 44.2% rise in net interest income to Rs 482 crore on 89.1% rise in profit after tax to Rs 182 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Global Markets:

Markets in Asia advanced on Tuesday as investor confidence surged into the Lunar New Year with China lifting its stringent Covid curbs and on rising hopes that the end to interest rate hikes may finally be in sight.

US stocks closed sharply higher on Monday, fuelled by surging technology stocks as investors began an earnings-heavy week with a renewed enthusiasm for market-leading momentum stocks that were battered last year.

Benchmarks end with decent gains after volatile session; IT stocks outperform.

STREET INVESTMENT

The key equity benchmarks ended with decent gains after a volatile session on Monday. The Nifty managed to close above the 18,100 level after hitting the day's low at 18,063.45 in early trade. Shares across sectors advanced with IT, auto and healthcare stocks gaining the most.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index S&P BSE Sensex advanced 319.90 points or 0.53% to 60,941.67. The Nifty 50 index added 90.90 points or 0.5% to 18,118.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.44% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.30%.

The market breadth turned negative. On the BSE, 1,666 shares rose, and 1,976 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index advanced 1.73% to 30,041.50. The index had declined 0.35% to end at 29,529.65 on Friday.

Persistent Systems (up 7.35%), Coforge (up 6.39%), L&T Technology Services (up 2.89%), LTI Mindtree (up 2.36%) and Tech Mahindra (up 1.77%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Mphasis (up 1.66%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.57%), Infosys (up 1.49%), HCL Technologies (up 1.2%) and Wipro (up 0.95%).

Earning Impact:

Reliance Industries (RIL) shed 0.53%. On a consolidated basis, net profit of RIL declined 2.8% to Rs 15,792 crore on 17.4% increase in net sales to Rs 2,17,164 crore in Q3 December 2022 over Q3 December 2021. RIL reported exceptional income of Rs 2,836 crore in Q3 December 2021.

ICICI Bank lost 0.05%. The bank has reported net interest income of Rs 16465 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 12236 crore in Q3 FY22. Profit after tax rose to Rs 8312 crore from Rs 6194 crore.

Kotak Mahindra Bank advanced 1.10%. The bank has reported net total income of Rs 7,753 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 5698 crore in Q3 FY22. Profit after tax rose to Rs 2,792 crore from Rs 2131 crore.

LTIMindtree gained 2.23%. The L&T Group company has reported 15.82% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,000.5 crore despite of 4.77% increase in revenue to Rs 8,620 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q2 FY23.

SBI Life Insurance Company rose 0.35%. The life insurer has reported 16.5% decline in net profit to Rs 304.13 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 364.06 crore posted in Q3 FY22.

UltraTech Cement tumbled 4.43%. The cement maker has reported consolidated profit after tax of Rs 1058 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 1173 crore in Q3 FY22. Net sales rose to Rs 15299 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 12710 crore in Q3 FY22.

JSW Steel declined 1.30%. The steel maker has reported 90% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 474 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 4,516 crore in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations rose by 3% YoY to Rs 39,134 crore during the quarter.

RBL Bank fell 2%. The private sector bank has reported 34% rise in net profit to Rs 209 crore on a 14% increase in total income to Rs 2,987 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Canara Bank advanced 1.21%. The public sector bank reported a standalone net profit of Rs 2,882 crore in Q3 FY23, which is higher by 91.88% as compared with the same period last year. The bank's net profit in Q3 FY22 was Rs 1,502 crore. Total income rose by 23.01% YoY during the quarter to Rs 26,217 crore.

Meghmani Organics slumped 6.53%. The company's consolidated net profit declined 87.79% to Rs 8.35 crore on 14.19% fall in net sales to Rs 549.43 crore in Q3 December 2022 over Q3 December 2021.

Yes Bank tumbled 8.33% after the private lender's standalone net profit slumped 80.7% to Rs 51.52 crore on 24.6% rise in total income to Rs 7015.18 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. The bank said that net profit was largely impacted due to ageing related provisions.

Tanla Platforms slipped 3.66% after the company's consolidated net profit dropped 26.3% to Rs 116.51 crore on 1.7% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 869.63 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Global Markets:

European markets started the new trading week on a high note on Monday as investors reassessed the global economic outlook.

Global markets have been weighing the possibility that the Federal Reserve is getting ready to slow the pace of its inflation-fighting rate hikes after economic data last week showed a decline in wholesale prices and retail sales.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, has reportedly said on Friday at the World Economic Forum that the global economic outlook is not as bad as feared a couple of months ago — “but less bad doesn't quite yet mean good.”

Meanwhile, shares traded higher in Asia on Monday, but most markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, with markets in Shanghai shut for the whole week.

US stocks rallied to close higher on Friday as quarterly earnings helped lift Netflix, while Google parent Alphabet climbed after announcing job cuts.

On Friday, Fed Gov. Christopher Waller said he favors just a quarter-point hike on Feb. 1, when the central bank gives its next interest rate policy update. Waller also said that rates are already high enough to be slowing the economy. The remarks could have helped calm rising-rate worries in the market.