The key equity benchmarks ended with major gains on Friday, rising for the fourth consecutive trading session. After opening at 21,773.55, the Nifty50 index marched higher as the session progressed to settle around the 21,900 level. IT, PSU Bank and realty shares witnessed buying demand while media, auto and healthcare stocks slipped.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 847.27 points or 1.18% to 72,568.45. The Nifty 50 index added 247.35 points or 1.14% to 21,894.55.

The benchmarks, Nifty50 and Sensex hit a fresh all-time high of 21,928.25 and 72,720.96 respectively.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.41%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,111 shares rose and 1,742 shares fell. A total of 89 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, advanced 2.46% to 13.08.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Infosys jumped 7.84% the IT major's consolidated net profit fell 1.6% to Rs 6,113 crore in Q3 FY24 from Rs 6215 crore in Q2 FY24. Revenues fell marginally to Rs 38,821 crore in Q3 FY24 as compared with Rs 38,994 crore in Q2 FY24. Year on year basis, the company?s net profit declined 7.2% while revenues increase 1.3% as compared with Q3 FY23. In terms of guidance, the company has revised it FY24 revenue guidance to 1.5%-2.0% and operating margin guidance at 20%-22%.

Tata Consultancy Services rallied 3.97% after the IT giant's consolidated net profit declined 2.5% to Rs 11,058 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 11,342 crore reported in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 1.49% to Rs 60,583 crore during the quarter from Rs 59,692 crore posted in Q2 FY24. The company's order book total contract value (TCV) stood at $8.1 billion as on 31 December 2023 and the book to bill ratio was at 1.1. The board has declared a second interim dividend of Rs 9 and a special dividend of Rs 18 per equity share. The record date for the same is 19 January 2024 and the payment date is 5 February 2024.

Tata Power Company shed 0.07%. Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), a subsidiary of the company, has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Gujarat (GoG) to develop 10,000 MW of Renewable Energy Power projects across multiple sites in Gujarat.

UltraTech Cement shed 0.92%. The company said that it has entered into share subscription and shareholders agreement to acquire 26% equity shares of Amplus Ages for total consideration of Rs 49 crore.

Bajel Projects rallied 6.04% after the company announced that it has bagged a letter of intent (LOI) from Tata Power Company for a project worth Rs 487.64 crore.

HDFC Life Insurance Company fell 0.95%. The insurance company reported 15.81% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 365.06 crore on 5.95% rise in net premium income to Rs 15,235.33 crore in Q3 FY24 over Q3 FY23.

Amal spurted 6.26% after the company recorded net profit of Rs 2.27 crore in Q3 December 2023 as against net loss of Rs 4.37 crore in Q3 December 2022.

5paisa Capital declined 5.76%. The company reported 36.93% surged in consolidated net profit of Rs 15.09 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 11.01 crore recorded in Q3 FY23.

Container Corporation Of India (Concor) shed 0.92%. The company reported 6.05% increase in total throughput to 11,50,808 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in Q3 FY24 as compared with 10,85,154 TEUs recorded in Q3 FY23.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe advanced on Friday, as investors digested fresh U.K. economic data.

The U.K. economy returned to growth in November, with gross domestic product expanding by 0.3%.

Most of the Asian stocks declined, while Japan continued its record-breaking rally, as investors awaited a slew of economic data out of China, including inflation and trade numbers for December.

US stocks ended close to the flat line on Thursday even as U.S. inflation for December came in higher than expected. The consumer price index increased by 0.3% last month from November. Year over year, CPI was up 3.4%.

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