Stock Market Highlights: Sensex ends 702 pts higher, Nifty50 reclaims 17,200 on Reliance, HUL, Infosys boost

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Rupee ends higher at 76.48 vs US dollar

The rupee finishes higher at 76.48 against the greenback. On Wednesday, it had settled at 76.53.

Market At Close | Sensex, Nifty up nearly 1% 

Here are some highlights:

--Reliance Industries at lifetime high, first Indian co to cross $250 billion market cap

--HUL top Nifty gainer after better-than-expected Jan-Mar earnings

--FMCG stocks outperform, Nifty FMCG up 2 percent

--Laurus Labs erases day’s gains following earnings

--Ruchi Soya gives up day’s gains

--Energy stocks gain; PowerGrid, NTPC up 2.5 percent

--Coromandel International top F&O gainer on strong earnings 

--Bajaj Auto gives up day’s gains, top Nifty loser

--Life insurance co stocks rise; HDFC Life, SBI Life up nearly 4 percent 

--BHEL up 3 percent after co bags order from Indian Navy

Closing Bell | Sensex up 702 pts, Nifty50 at 17,245 

Both headline indices finish the day 1.2 percent higher. The Sensex rises 701.7 points to end at 57,521.1 and the Nifty50 settles at 17,245.1, up 206.7 points from its previous close.

SBI Life Jan-Mar APE up 4% At Rs 4,130 crore 

Bajaj Finserv Consolidated Q4 earnings | Net profit up 37.5% at Rs 1,346 crore Vs Rs 979 crore (YoY)

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd. announced 20% rise in PAT

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd. announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The company delivered sales of Rs 973 crores, up 28 percent vs a year ago. The company had a one-time other income during the quarter from the intercompany sale of inventory.

Fertiliser subsidy bill likely to inch up to Rs 2.50 lakh cr this fiscal 

Fertiliser Minister is likely to begin talks with Saudi Arabia, Oman, Morocco to increase fertiliser imports, sources told CNBC-TV18.

This IT stock erased 12% of investors’ wealth in a month but 45% jump in profit is driving it higher

Shares of Persistent Systems rose more than 5 percent in intraday trade on Thursday, a day after the IT firm posted a strong quarterly performance for the January to March 2022 period, beating Street estimates. At 11:30 am, the tech company’s stock was trading at Rs 4,113.90, up 0.91 percent from its previous close, on the National Stock Exchange. (Read Here)

Mahindra Lifespace shares rally nearly 8% after earnings announcement

Mahindra Lifespace shares gained close to 8 percent on the BSE on Thursday after the company's consolidated total income stood at Rs 408.2 crore in the last fiscal, against Rs 187.8 crore FY21, according to a regulatory filing.

Capacite Infra bags orders worth Rs 826.5 cr for development of Multispeciality hospital in Bhandup, Mumbai & Construction of Residential Project in Navi Mumbai

Exxon’s Russian unit declares force majeure for Sakhalin-1 operations: Reuters

Exxon had in March announced about discontinuing Russian operations.

ONGC Videsh holds 20 percent in the Sakhalin-1 block. Mangalore Refinery gets cheaper crude from this Russian block. 

Varun Beverages Jan Mar net profit nearly doubles to Rs 254 crore, revenue up 26%

The company's board approved a bonus of one share for every two held.

Reliance Industries becomes first Indian co to hit $250 billion market cap 

Reliance Industries shares gain by as much as Rs 56.6 or two percent to a record Rs 2,834.5 apiece on BSE. 

The market cap gap between two of India’s most valued companies -- Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) -- has widened further in last four months.

Reliance saw an increase of nearly $20 billion in 2022. TCS saw a decline of almost $20 billion. 

Disclaimer: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank preferred bets in banking space, cautious on Bajaj Finance: Ajay Bodke

Market expert Ajay Bodke tells CNBC-TV18 he has ICICI Bank and Axis Bank as his preferred picks in the banking space, but remains cautious on non-banking financial major Bajaj Finance. 

ICICI Bank's results were better than market expectations and the stock is a consensus top buy among a large number of brokerages, he says. He is of the view that people will continue to prefer ICICI Bank, which remains a top buy in his portfolio.

He remains cautious on highly priced franchises such as Bajaj Finance, saying "the trend from growth to value globally will be evident more and more in India".

BFSI Basket | HDFC Life, ICICI General rise over 2%

Insurers ICICI General and HDFC Life rise more than two percent each. On the flipside, the Bajaj twins are down more than one percent. 

Here's what the BFSI pack looks like: 

Nifty FMCG up 1.5%, top gainer among NSE's sectoral indices

Nifty50 holds 17,100 mark, tops five, 50 DMAs

The Nifty50 holds continues to defend 17,100 in late morning deals so far on the F&O expiry day. Earlier on Thursday, the 50-scrip index climbed to as high as 17,189.5, coming within 30 pts of its 200-day simple moving average.

Bajaj Auto shares take a hit after sales decline amid weak demand and chip shortage

Bajaj Auto shares decline by as much as Rs 101.2 or 2.6 percent to Rs 3,804.8 apiece, snapping a three-day winning streak after the auto maker reported its financial results for the January-March period. 

The company reported a 10.3 percent year-on-year increase in net profit to Rs 1,469 crore for the three-month period. Its revenue, however, dropped 7.2 percent on year to Rs 7,974.8 crore, according to a regulatory filing. (Read more)

Large Trade | Rs 627-crore Hindalco shares change hands

As many as 1.3 crore Hindalco shares -- representing 0.6 percent of the company's equity -- worth Rs 627 crore change hands. 

Hindalco shares are down by Rs 8.6 or 1.7 percent at Rs 483.7 apiece on BSE, having declined as much as 2.4 percent earlier in the day. 

Hindustan Unilever jumps as investors cheer earnings beat, ignore margin pressure

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) shares rise by as much as Rs 85.9 or four percent to Rs 2,230 apiece on BSE, a day after the fast moving consumer goods major beat analysts forecasts with its January-March earnings.

The company's management said the operating environment continues to be challenging and its margin will decline in the short term. However, it also mentioned that its premium business is growing at good pace. (Read more)

Brokerage Calls | HDFC AMC, CarTrade, Macrotech in the spotlight

--BofA Securities maintains a 'buy' rating on Bajaj Auto with a target price of Rs 4,100

--Credit Suisse continues with an 'outperform' call on HUL but lowers its target price by 8.9 percent

--Morgan Stanley retains an 'equal-weight' call on HDFC AMC

--Nomura initiates coverage on CarTrate with a 'buy' call and a target price of Rs 770

--Morgan Stanley continues with its 'equal-weight' rating on Macrotech but lowers its target price to Rs 1,145 (Check out the complete list of brokerage views)

Asian Paints, UPL, Maruti Suzuki, SBI Life top blue-chip gainers

Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel and Divis's are also among the top gainers. 

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, the Bajaj twins, Titan, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank are the worst hit among the 12 laggards in the Nifty50 basket. 

Here's what the 30-scrip pack looks like at this hour:

Sensex, Nifty50 build on opening gains

Both headline indices gain after opening higher. The Sensex rises as much as 477.1 points or 0.8 percent to touch 57,296.4 in early deals and the Nifty50 climbs to as high as 17,189.5, up 151.1 points or 0.9 percent from its previous close. 

Overweight on financial, technology, domestic cyclical spaces: Ridham Desai

Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley says domestic share owners remains marginal setters of price with their persistent bids, explaining India's surprising outperformance. "However, active positions remain narrower than ideal and sector-level positions differ from our recommendations – creating scope for counter-consensus calls. Our big sector calls are overweight on financials and technology as barbells and also overweight on domestic cyclicals (consumer and industrials). We are underweight on other sectors," he adds. 

Pre-Open Market | Sensex up over 450 pts, Nifty 10 pts shy of 17,200

In the pre-opening session, the Sensex is up 480 points or 0.8 percent at 57,299.4 and the Nifty50 at 17,189.5, up 151.1 points or 0.9 percent from its previous close.  

Stocks To Watch | Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto, Persistent, Indian Hotels in focus

--Bajaj Auto margin rises by 150 bps sequentially in Jan-Mar, price hike improves realisation

--HUL earnings beat estimates

--Persistent dollar revenue up 9.1 percent as against estimate of 8.3 percent, attrition down by 30 bps sequentially

--Indian Hotels Jan-Mar revenue down six percent, profit down 4.5 percent (Check out the complete list of stocks to track today)

Global Cues | Big Tech earnings in focus after Meta shares surge on above-estimate earnings