Benchmarks open with strong gains; Nifty above 24,350

The key equity indices traded with major gains in early trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,350 mark. All sectoral indices traded in green on the NSE with IT, oil & gas, and auto shares gaining the most.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 883.33 points or 1.12% to 79,763.84. The Nifty 50 index surged 275.50 points or 1.14% to 24,387.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.89% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.85%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,322 shares rose and 525 shares fell. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,626.73 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 577.30 crore in the Indian equity market on 8 August 2024, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Eicher Motors rallied 4% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 19.93% to Rs 1,101 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 918 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue increased 10.21% YoY to Rs 4,393 crore during the quarter.

Life Insurance Corporation of India added 1.49% after the company’s consolidated net profit rose 9% YoY to Rs 10,544 crore in Q1 FY25. Net premium income increased 16% YoY to Rs 1.14 lakh crore in Q1 FY25.

Cochin Shipyard advanced 4.59% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 76.6% to Rs 174 crore on 62.07% increase in revenue to Rs 771 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q1 FY24.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 1.82% to 7.002 as compared with previous close 6.862.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.9425, compared with its close of 83.9725 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2024 settlement shed 0.12% to Rs 69,634.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.04% to 103.16.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.65% to 3.971.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2024 settlement added 10 cents or 0.13% to $79.26 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian shares surged on Friday, buoyed by a strong Wall Street performance.

Investor sentiment was lifted by China's release of July consumer price index data, which showed a modest increase and eased deflation concerns. The country's consumer prices rose 0.5% year-on-year last month. However, core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy items, cooled to 0.4% from 0.6% in June.

U.S. stocks surged on Thursday after the Labor Department reported a larger-than-expected drop in initial jobless claims to 233,000 for the week ended August 3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.76%, the S&P 500 gained 2.30% and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.87%.