Indices trade with strong gains; European mrkt advance

The key equity barometers continued to trade with stong gains in afternoon trade, tracking positive global cues. Sentiment was lifted by optimism surrounding a potential US'Iran ceasefire, which improved overall risk appetite. However, market participants remain cautious, closely monitoring business updates and awaiting upcoming quarterly earnings for further direction. The Nifty traded above the 24,000 level.

Barring IT all the sectoral indices on the NSE were traded in green with auto, realty and private bank shares leading the gains.

At 13:25 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 798.70 points or 1.03% to 77,424. The Nifty 50 index climbed 231.50 points or 0.97% to 24,006.60.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index surged 1.47% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index soared 1.61%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,352 shares rose and 845 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Asian Paints (up 4.32%), Eicher Motors (up 3.84%), Bajaj Auto (up 3.02%) and ICICI Bank (up 2.88%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.76%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.

Sun Pharma (down 3.88%), Coal India (down 3.72%), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (down 2.67%), Infosys (down 2.71%) and HCL Technologies (down 1.62%) were the major Nifty50 losers.

Stock in Spotlight:

Wipro rose 0.42%. The company announced that its board is scheduled to meet on 15-16 April 2026, to consider a proposal for the buyback of equity shares. In addition, the IT major is also scheduled to announce its financial results for the fourth quarter ended March 2026 on 16 April 2026.

Power Mech Projects surged 5.78% after the comapny has secured an operations & maintenance (O&M) contract from Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation (MMMOCL) for the Mumbai Monorail. The contract covers O&M of the 19.54-km route and 17 stations between Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk and Chembur in Mumbai for a period of five years. The order is valued at Rs 296 crore.

Container Corporation of India (Concor) rose 0.48%. The company announced that its total throughput jumped 5.98% to 14,28,102 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in Q4 FY26 compared with 13,47,495 TEUs in Q4 FY25.

Maiden Forgings advanced 3.07% after the company reported production volume of 35,546 MT for FY 2025'26, which is an increase of 11.5% as compared with the volume of 31,879 MT recorded in the previous year.

Godrej Properties added 2.91% after the company reported 16% increase in booking value to Rs 34,171 crore in FY26 from Rs 29,444 crore in FY25. In Q4 FY26, however, the company's booking value remained flat at Rs 10,163 crore as compared with the same period last year.

Prestige Estates Projects rose 0.64%. The company announced its entry into a premium residential project in Mumbai through a joint venture with ABIL Group. The development will be undertaken via Aaramnagar Realty LLP, which holds development rights for a land parcel in Versova. The project spans around 6 acres and has a total development potential of approximately 1.7 million square feet (RERA area), with an estimated gross development value of over Rs 9,000 crore.

NHPC shed 0.40%. The company announced that its board will meet on Tuesday, 14th April 2026, to consider a proposal for monetizing future cash flows from its power stations.

IRB Infrastructure Developers jumped 3.02% after the company, along with its two sponsored InvITs, reported a 20.74% jump in toll revenue to Rs 783 crore in March 2026, compared with Rs 649 crore in March 2025.

Park Medi World surged 4.45% after the company announced the launch of its multi-super specialty hospital in Panchkula on 10 April 2026, marking a key expansion in North India.

Global Markets:

European and Asia market advanced on Friday, though a fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran keeps investors on tenterhooks with oil prices resuming gains.

The Mideast conflict, which has been going on for more than a month, led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and traffic continues to largely be restricted via the crucial energy waterway despite the ceasefire.

Tehran had said it would reopen the strait as long as all attacks on the country were halted, according to a statement from its foreign minister. Media reports said that Israel had also agreed to the ceasefire. That followed U.S. President Donald Trump pausing attacks on Iran on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in China, factory-gate prices rose for the first time in more than three years, while the consumer price index climbed 1% in March from a year earlier.

Overnight on Wall Street, oil prices came off their highs of the day while the S&P 500 traded into the green.

The S&P 500 ended the session at 6,824.66, adding 0.62%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.83% to 22,822.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.88 points, or 0.58%, and settled at 48,185.80. The 30-stock index turned positive for the year, up 0.25%.

Core PCE inflation increased 3% year-on-year in February, while headline inflation came in at 2.8%, according to Commerce Department data.