The key equity indices ended with strong gains on Thursday, gaining for the fourth consecutive session. The Nifty settled at the 24,800 level after hitting the day's low of 24,504.45 in mid-morning trade. IT, FMCG and financial services shares advanced while media, consumer durables and metal stocks declined. Trading was volatile due to weekly F&O series expiry today. As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 626.91 points or 0.78% to 81,343.46. The Nifty 50 index added 187.85 points or 0.76% to 24,800.85. The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 81,522.55 and 24,837.75, respectively in mid-afternoon trade. The broader market underperformed the frontline indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.99% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.15%. The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,422 shares rose and 2,502 shares fell. A total of 92 shares were unchanged. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 2.02% to 14.51. Economy: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded India's economic outlook, raising its growth forecast for the 2024-25 financial year to 7%. This revision is driven by an anticipated improvement in private consumption, especially in rural areas. The IMF maintained its projection of 6.5% growth for the following year (2025-26). This information comes from their latest World Economic Outlook report. In April, the IMF had already revised India's growth forecast upwards, from 6.5% to 6.8%. This latest increase reflects continued optimism about the Indian economy. Buzzing Index: The Nifty IT index gained 2.22% to 40,010.40. The index rallied 2.82% in two consecutive trading sessions. LTIMindtree (up 3.57%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 3.28%), Wipro (up 2.41%), Infosys (up 1.85%), Coforge (up 1.71%), HCL Technologies (up 1.59%), Persistent Systems (up 1.57%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.53%) and Mphasis (up 1.21%) advanced. LTImindtree jumped 3.57% after the company's consolidated net profit increased 3.1% to Rs 1,135.1 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 1,100.7 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 2.8% QoQ to Rs 9,142.6 crore in Q1 FY25. Mastek shed 0.17%. The IT company's consolidated net profit tumbled 24.27% to Rs 71.50 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 94.41 crore reported in Q4 FY24. However, revenue from operations grew by 4.25% quarter on quarter (QoQ) to Rs 812.89 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024. Newgen Software Technologies slipped 1.72% after the company's consolidated net profit dropped 54.81% to Rs 47.57 crore on 16.14% decrease in revenue from operation to Rs 314.72 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q4 FY24. Stocks in Spotlight: Asian Paints fell 1.59% after the company's consolidated net profit tumbled 24.54% to Rs 1,169.98 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 1,550.37 crore reported in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 8,943.24 crore in Q1 FY25, down 2.3% from Rs 9,153.79 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter previous year. Havells India shed 0.43%. The home appliance company's standalone net profit jumped 43.08% to Rs 411.18 crore on 20.2% increase in net revenue to Rs 5,798.11 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q1 FY24. Jubilant Ingrevia tumbled 3.87% after the company reported 15.36% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 48.74 crore in Q1 FY25 compared with net profit of Rs 57.59 crore in Q1 FY24. Total revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,024.34 crore in Q1 FY25, down 4.71% from Rs 1,075.02 crore in Q1 FY24. Just Dial was locked in an 20% upper circuit after the company reported 69.33% surge in net profit to Rs 141.22 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 83.40 crore posted in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations grew by 13.6% year on year to Rs 280.57 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024. Bharat Bijlee was locked in 10% lower circuit after the company reported 51% drop in net profit to Rs 23.93 crore in Q1 FY25 from Rs 48.53 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue from operations declined by 36% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 374.76 crore in the first quarter of FY25. The company's revenue for Q4 FY24 was Rs 587.47 crore. Lotus Chocolate was locked in 5% upper circuit after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 9.40 crore in Q1 FY25, steeply higher than Rs 0.19 crore posted in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations soared to Rs 141.30 crore in the first quarter of FY25 from Rs 32.30 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. Network18 Media & Investments slipped 3.95% after the company's consolidated net loss widened to Rs 102.41 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared to net loss of Rs 38.73 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations slipped 3.02% to Rs 3,140.92 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 3,238.94 crore posted in Q1 FY24. TV18 Broadcast fell 3.44% after the media company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 50.09 crore in Q1 FY25 as against a net profit of Rs 44.33 crore reported in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations was at Rs 3,069.32 crore in Q1 FY25, down 3.36% from Rs 3,176.03 crore posted in Q1 FY24. Adani Green Energy shed 0.57%. The company reported a 22% YoY increase in sale of energy to 7,356 million units in Q1 FY25 as against 6,023 million units posted in Q1 FY24. Global Markets: European shares advanced on Thursday as investors awaited for ECB rate decision. Asian stocks declined on Thursday. Chip stocks dipped as investors worried about potential trade war escalation between the US and China. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen strengthened to a six-week high, likely due to recent interventions by the Japanese government. News of stricter US export controls on advanced chip technology to China caused chip stocks and the Nasdaq to fall in the US overnight. This decline was led by tech giants Nvidia and Apple. Later today, investors will focus on the European Central Bank's policy decision. The bank is likely to maintain current interest rates, but their comments will be closely watched for hints about future rate adjustments. US markets ended Wednesday with mixed results. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq took a significant hit due to a sell-off in tech stocks driven by trade war concerns. The S&P 500 dropped 1.4%, and the Nasdaq plunged 2.8%. However, the Dow Jones bucked the trend, rising 0.6% (243 points) after a surge of over 700 points on the previous day. 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