Markets closed higher. Nifty 50 closed at 15,745.15 (109.8, 0.7%) , BSE Sensex closed at 52,300.47 (358.8, 0.7%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 13,521.35 (125.0, 0.9%)

Market breadth is overwhelmingly positive. Of the 1,754 stocks traded today, 1,383 were on the uptrend, and 343 went down.

• Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas and IIFL Finance are trading with higher delivery volumes compared to Wednesday.

• Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv are leading the Nifty50 higher, and are among the highest gainers today.

• Alok Industries hits the 20% upper circuit and is trading with seven times the weekly average trading volume.

• Cera Sanitaryware’s Q4 net profit rises 23% YoY to Rs 46 crore as revenues from operations jump 47.4% to Rs 438 crore.

• Alkem Laboratories trades higher after it launched Perampanel tablets, an anti-epileptic drug for the treatment of epilepsy, in India.

• Divi's Laboratories is up after the United States and Merck & Co. agreed to a $1.2 billion contract for Molnupiravir, an investigational Covid-19 medication. Divi's Laboratories is a licensed producer of molnupiravir's active pharmaceutical ingredient.

• eClerx Services, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, National Fertilizers, NHPC, and Steel Authority of India are trading higher ahead of their Q4 earnings update later today. 

• ICICI Securities maintains a ‘Hold’ rating on Hester Biosciences with a target price upside of 6%, citing company's future growth led by an MoU with Bharat Biotech to manufacture the drug substance for Covaxin.

• Bata India, Hatsun Agro Products, Jindal Stainless (Hisar) and Jindal Stainless are trading in green with more than four times their average weekly trading volume.

• Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation trades higher as its promoter group entity Robust Marketing Services buys 1.04 lakh shares (0.1% stake) via multiple insider trades. Robust Marketing Services now holds 10.56% in the company.

• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund increases its stake in TVS Motor Company by 2%, buying 97 lakh shares on Wednesday. The fund house now holds 9.2% stake in the company.

• Axis Securities recommends a ‘Buy” rating on Polycab India with a target price upside of 8%, citing the company’s leadership position in the cable and wireless segment, rapid growth in the housing wires, and FMEG segments led by a strong distributor network and brand presence.

• Affle India trades higher after it announced the acquisition of Jampp, a leading programmatic mobile marketing company for Rs 301.4 crore.

• Bata India’s Q4 net profit falls 23.6% YoY to Rs 29 crore and revenues from operations fall 5% to Rs 589 crore.

• GAIL India's Q4 net profit falls 47% YoY to Rs 2,486 crore as natural gas revenues decline 24%, revenues fall 14% YoY to Rs 18,893.6 crore.

• Nifty 50 was trading at 15,678.55 (43.2, 0.3%) , BSE Sensex was trading at 52,138.75 (197.1, 0.4%) while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 13,456.75 (60.4, 0.5%)

• Market breadth is surging up. Of the 1,669 stocks traded today, 1,402 were gainers and 250 were losers.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Bajaj Finance Ltd. (6,110.35, 7.68%), Dr. Lal Pathlabs Ltd. (3,199.65, 6.85%) and DLF Ltd. (314.70, 5.66%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Container Corporation of India Ltd. (695.20, -1.64%), Indian Overseas Bank (20.25, -1.46%) and ITC Ltd. (209.70, -1.32%).

Volume Shockers

23 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Alok Industries Ltd. (24.35, 19.95%), Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (379.90, 19.84%) and Network 18 Media & Investments Ltd. (53.45, 19.84%).

Top high volume loser on BSE was Cera Sanitaryware Ltd. (4,340.00, -4.24%).

Bata India Ltd. (1,634.95, 4.95%) was trading at 11.5 times of weekly average. Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Ltd. (191.00, 8.25%) and Jindal Stainless Ltd. (100.55, 8.29%) were trading with volumes 10.4 and 9.0 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

44 stocks took off, crossing 52 week highs,

Stocks touching their year highs included - Ambuja Cements Ltd. (341.70, 2.20%), Astral Ltd. (1,970.55, 1.38%) and Bajaj Finance Ltd. (6,110.35, 7.68%).

10 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Alok Industries Ltd. (24.35, 19.95%) and CreditAccess Grameen Ltd. (734.00, 7.70%). 6 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (1,574.00, 0.20%) and KRBL Ltd. (228.85, 0.68%).