Benchmarks trade in positive terrain; oil & gas shares advance

The key equity indices traded with decent gains in early afternoon trade, supported by softer-than-expected WPI, retail, and U.S. inflation data. The Nifty traded above the 24,650 mark. Oil & gas shares rallied after declining in the past trading session.

At 12:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 164.61 points or 0.20% to 81,318.43. The Nifty 50 index jumped 89.55 points or 0.36% to 24,667.90.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.96% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.41%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,726 shares rose and 1,061 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) eased to 0.85% in April 2025 as compared with 2.05% in March 2025. Positive rate of inflation in April, 2025 is primarily due to increase in prices of manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, chemicals and chemical products, manufacture of other transport equipment, manufacture of machinery and equipment, etc.

India's retail inflation in April fell to 3.16% from 3.34% in March, showed official data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday. Effectively, headline inflation declined 18 basis points in April 2025 compared to March 2025. According to the government, it is the lowest year-on-year inflation since July 2019. The significant decline in headline inflation and food inflation during the month of April 2025 is mainly attributed to the decline in inflation of vegetables, pulses & products, fruits, meat and fish, personal care and effects and cereals and products.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index rose 1.06% to 11,377.85. The index fell 0.91% in the past trading session.

Oil India (up 3.79%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 1.97%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 1.91%), Indraprastha Gas (up 1.28%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.22%), Adani Total Gas (up 1.22%), GAIL (India) (up 1.19%), Aegis Logistics (up 1%), Gujarat Gas (up 0.96%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.85%) advanced.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, down 5.30% to 17.24. The Nifty 29 May 2025 futures were trading at 24,742, at a premium of 74.1 points as compared with the spot at 24,667.90

The Nifty option chain for the 29 May 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 51.7 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. A maximum put OI of 65 lakh contracts was seen at a 24,000 strike price.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ITD Cementation India surged 8.72% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 26.9% to Rs 113.55 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Rs 89.51 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 9.8% YoY to Rs 2,479.72 crore in the quarter ended 31st March 2025.

Tata Elxsi rose 2.14% after the company announced a strategic collaboration with Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) to support engineering and software development for Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs).

Bharti Airtel rose 0.62%. The telecom major's consolidated net profit soared 432.04% to Rs 11,021.8 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 2,071.6 crore reported in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 27.33% YoY to Rs 47,876.2 crore in Q4 FY25.

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