At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 296.72 points or 0.40% to 73,945.04. The Nifty 50 index gained 68.65 points or 0.31% to 22,472.80.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.95% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.09%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,343 shares rose and 1,322 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.

The National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange will hold a special live trading session on Saturday, 18 May 2024 in the equity and equity derivative segments with an intra-day switchover from the Primary site to the Disaster Recovery site. The special session would be divided into two parts – the first session will begin at 9:15 am and conclude at 10 am, followed by another session starting at 11:30 am and ending at 12:30 pm.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 1.85% to 19.63. The Nifty 30 May 2024 futures were trading at 22,520.05, at a premium of 47.25 points as compared with the spot at 22,472.80.

The Nifty option chain for the 30 May 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 32 lakh contracts at the 23,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 32.7 lakh contracts were seen at 22,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index gained 1.66% to 997. The index rallied 6.60% in five consecutive trading sessions.

Brigade Enterprises (up 5.01%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 3.15%), Oberoi Realty (up 3.04%), Sobha (up 2.53%), DLF (up 1.62%), Macrotech Developers (up 1.03%), Sunteck Realty (up 0.63%), Phoenix Mills (up 0.22%) and Godrej Properties (up 0.21%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight :

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals soared 15.72% after the company reported 1% increased in consolidated net profit to Rs 133.43 crore as compared with Rs 131.55 crore posted in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations increased 9.49% YoY to Rs 1,961 crore in Q4 FY24.

Biocon rose 0.36%. The company reported 56.74% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 135.5 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 313.2 crore posted in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations rose 3.79% year on year (YoY) to Rs 3,917.1 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.