| The key equity indices traded with modest gains in the mid-morning trade, with the Nifty 50 moving above the 24,000 level. Sentiment was supported by reports of Iran proposing a peace initiative to the US aimed at de-escalating ongoing geopolitical tensions, which boosted global risk appetite, along with steady Q4 earnings updates. Media shares surged after declining in the past trading session. At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rallied 428.31 points or 0.56% to 77,092.52. The Nifty 50 index advanced 134.10 points or 0.56% to 24,033.10. In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped 1.17% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index surged 1.65%. The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,943 shares rose and 1,101 shares fell. A total of 226 shares were unchanged. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 5.51% to 18.63. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Media index jumped 2.56% to 1,475.55. The index dropped 1.87% in the past trading session. Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 4.34%), Saregama India (up 4.25%), Network 18 Media & Investments (up 4.06%), Prime Focus (up 3.55%), D B Corp (up 3.05%), Tips Music (up 2.94%), Nazara Technologies (up 1.82%), PVR Inox (up 1.81%) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 0.73%) advanced. Stocks in Spotlight: Tanla Platforms soared 10.43% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 2.25% to Rs 134.32 crore on 5.04% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,177.54 crore in Q4 FY26 over Q3 FY26. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries jumped 6.76% after the company announced the signing of definitive agreement with Organon & Co. for acquiring all outstanding shares of Organon at an enterprise valuation of $11.75 billion. Supreme Petrochem dropped 5.93% after the company reported a 57.21% YoY rise in standalone net profit to Rs 168.04 crore on a 3.31% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,584.63 crore in Q4 FY26 over Q4 FY25. Global Markets: Most Asian stock markets rose on Monday, with Japan and South Korea hitting record highs, although broader gains were capped by surging oil prices and stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations. Sentiment held up despite U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday scrapping plans to send U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, Pakistan for negotiations with Iran. Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz remain high after Iran's Revolutionary Guard reportedly boarded two cargo ships near the strategic sea lane. Meanwhile, Profits at China's industrial firms grew at their fastest pace in six months in March, even as the Middle East war upended global oil markets and sent raw material costs soaring. Industrial profits jumped 15.8% from a year earlier in March, the sharpest growth since September last year, National Bureau of Statistics data showed Monday, accelerating from the 15.2% surge in the first two months of this year. In the first three months this year, enterprise profits expanded 15.5%, the fastest start to a year since 2017, barring the pandemic-driven spike in 2021. Last week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at record levels on Friday after investors were given a hopeful sign that peace talks between the U.S. and Iran would soon take place in Pakistan. The broad market index finished up 0.8% at 7,165.08, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.63% to settle at 24,836.60. Both indexes also scored fresh all-time intraday highs. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.61 points, or 0.16%, to end at 49,230.71. |