:::LALKAR GROUP::::

The benchmarks indices traded in a narrow range in mid-morning trade. The Nifty continued to trade above the 18,550 mark. Metal shares witnessed some bit of value buying.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 83.49 points or 0.13% to 62,705.73. The Nifty 50 index added 29.55 points or 0.16% to 18,563.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.40% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.80%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2244 shares rose and 1065 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Central government's NSO office on Wednesday released India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the January-March quarter (Q4FY2023). In Q4FY23, GDP growth was at 6.1% compared to 4.4% growth rate witnessed in Q3. Overall, the growth in FY23 fiscal is better-than-expected to 7.2%. However, the FY23 growth has slowed down from 9.5% growth in FY22.

The government's fiscal deficit narrowed to Rs 17.33 trillion or 6.4% of GDP for the financial year ended March 2023 compared with the previous financial year, on the back of higher tax receipts. Official data released on Wednesday showed that the deficit was lower than the revised estimate of Rs 17.55 trillion given in the Union Budget 2023.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 0.12% to 5,897.20. The index had declined 1.69% in the past two sessions.

Welspun Corp (up 4.29%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.63%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (up 0.45%), Adani Enterprises (up 0.38%), NMDC (up 0.37%) and Tata Steel (up 0.33%) and Vedanta (up 0.16%) advanced.

On the other hand, Hindustan Copper (down 1.24%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.97%) and National Aluminium Company (down 0.78%) declined.

MOIL advanced 2.9% to Rs 158.45 after the company decided to increase the prices of different grades of manganese ore and other products with effect from 1 June 2023.

Global markets:

Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday as investors remained cautious amid the passage of US debt ceiling bill and the release of manufacturing data of several Asian countries, including China.

US stocks slipped on Wednesday as investors kept an eye on the federal debt ceiling debate in Washington in the final trading day of May.

The House of Representatives passed a bill to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on Wednesday, with majority support from both Democrats and Republicans, avoiding a catastrophic default. The Republican-controlled House voted 314-117 to send the legislation to the Senate, which must enact the measure and get it to President Joe Biden's desk.