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The key equity barometers managed to pare early losses and traded with some in morning trade. The Nifty traded above the 18,550 mark. IT shares extended gains for third consecutive session.

At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 82.47 points or 0.13% to 62,704.71. The Nifty 50 index added 29.25 points or 0.16% to 18,563.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.41% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.71%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2205 shares rose and 989 shares fell. A total of 130 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 IT index rose 0.79% to 29,549.95. The index has gained 1.06% in three sessions.

Mphasis (up 3.24%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.28%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.23%), Wipro (up 0.88%) and Infosys (up 0.66%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were L&T Technology Services (up 0.56%), HCL Technologies (up 0.32%) and LTI Mindtree (up 0.29%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Auto gained 1.52%. The company's total auto sales jumped 29% to 3,55,148 units in May 2023 from 2,75,868 units sold in May 2022.

Escorts Kubota rose 0.77%. The tractor maker said that its Agri Machinery business had sold 9,167 tractors in May 2023, its highest ever May sales recording growth of 8.9% as against 8,421 tractors sold in May 2022.

Escorts further informed that the company's Construction Equipment business in May 2023 sold 425 units, registering a growth of 39.3% as against 305 units sold in May 2022.

South Indian Bank jumped 5.62%. The bank said its board has approved a panel of candidates for the position of managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO). The bank will be submitting its application to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with the names of the candidates in the order of preference. The RBI will then conduct a due diligence process and make a decision on the appointment of the new MD & CEO.