Nifty above 24,600 level; IT shares in demand

The key equity indices witnessed small gains in afternoon trade, supported by softer-than-expected WPI, retail, and U.S. inflation data. The Nifty traded above the 24,600 level. IT stocks gained in trade after witnessing a pullback in the previous session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 9.68 points or 0.01% to 81,157.90. The Nifty 50 index jumped 32.45 points or 0.13% to 24,610.05.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.01% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.39%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,678 shares rose and 1,229 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tanked 5.34% to 17.23.

Economy:

India's wholesale inflation (WPI) eased further to 0.85% in April on an annual basis as against a four-month low of 2.05% in March, the government data showed on Wednesday. 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 and manufacture of machinery and equipment, etc.

India's retail inflation in April fell to 3.16% from 3.34% in March, according to 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 IT index rose 1.10% to 37,764.95. The index fell 2.42% in the past trading session.

LTIMindtree (up 2.78%), Mphasis (up 2.39%), Coforge (up 2.17%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.6%), Infosys (up 1.37%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 0.88%), HCL Technologies (up 0.55%), Wipro (up 0.14%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.08%) advanced.

On the other hand, Persistent Systems (down 0.95%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 1.15% to 6.357, compared with the previous close of 6.354.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.3300, compared with its close of 85.3600 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 June 2025 settlement shed 0.18% to Rs 93,482.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.46% to 100.52.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.47% to 4.478.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2025 settlement shed 39 cents or 0.59% to $66.24 a barrel.

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