The key equity indices continued to trade with small gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,050 mark. Media shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading sessions.

At 11:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 137.92 points or 0.19% to 72,779.11. The Nifty 50 index rose 52.30 points or 0.24% to 22,064.25.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.12% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.03%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,443 shares rose and 1,110 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index gained 1.28% 1,850.35. The index rallied 3.09% in the two trading sessions.

Network 18 Media & Investments (up 3.73%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 2.84%), TV18 Broadcast (up 2.08%), Dish TV India (up 2.02%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 1.63%), PVR Inox (up 0.52%), Nazara Technologies (up 0.06%) and Saregama India (up 0.01%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Sarda Energy & Minerals zoomed 14.10% after the company’s subsidiary joint venture Natural Resources Energy received the letter of intent (LoI) for composite licence for Surjagad-1 iron ore block in the state of Maharashtra.

Gensol Engineering was locked in upper circuit of 5% after it secured a turnkey EPC order from a leading power generation utility in Maharashtra worth Rs 520 crore.

Prestige Estates Projects rallied 4.65% after the company’s subsidiary acquires 62.5 acres of prime land in Indirapuram Extension, Ghaziabad, NCR.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded lower on Friday as investors assessed Federal Reserve's policy outcome. Nikkei 225 crossed 41,000 to hit a fresh all-time high on Friday as Japan inflation accelerated in February. Japan's headline consumer price rose to 2.8% on year in February, from 2.2% in January.

U.S. stocks hit fresh records, continuing its rally after the U.S. Federal Reserve held rates steady and maintained its rate cut forecast for 2024.

The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high of 5.25% on Thursday even though inflation continues to drop from multi-decade peaks.