Stock Market LIVE: Sensex climbs 350 pts, Nifty up 100 pts; M&M, Titan shine

Consumer appliances brand Atomberg Technologies has raised $86 million in its Series C funding round led by Temasek Holdings and Steadview Capital, the company said in an announcement.

The round saw participation from Trifecta Capital and existing investors Jungle Ventures and Inflexor Ventures, via a mix of primary and secondary issuances. The fresh fund infusion will be used to boost manufacturing capabilities, new product launches, deepen offline presence across key regions and consolidate Atomberg’s position in the consumer appliance market, the firm said. (Read More)

IDFC First Bank shares have been in uptrend after announcement of fourth quarter results ahead of ushering in May 2023. After announcement of IDFC First Bank results, share price of the private lender has surged from around ₹61.50 to ₹70.80 apiece levels, logging around 15 per cent in less than one month time. IDFC First Bank share price today opened upside and hit new 52-week high for second straight session as stock witnessed strong buying interest after trading tepid in early morning deals. The stock witnessed heavy buying during 11:15 AM to 13:30 PM deals and hit fresh 52-week high of ₹70.80 apiece levels on NSE. While climbing to new 52-week peak, IDFC First Bank shares hit August 2017 highs.

According to stock market experts, due to strong Q4 results, IDFC First Bank share has been attracting both DIIs and FIIs as banking segment is expected to outperform others in near to medium term. They said that IDFC First Bank share price may go up to ₹80 apiece levels in near term. (Read More)

Commercial vehicle manufacturer, SML Isuzu touched a new 52-week high on Monday amidst its fourth quarterly earnings for FY23. Q4 PAT came in at ₹26.79 crore as against a net loss of ₹11.42 crore in Q4FY22 and a loss of ₹0.13 crore in Q3FY23. The company recorded a strong growth across key parameters.

EBITDA stood at ₹43.2 crore in the quarter under review, as against meagre ₹1.7 crore in Q4 of FY22. EBITDA margins expanded sharply to 7.4% versus 0.5% in Q4 of previous fiscal.

Revenue from operations stood at ₹583.22 crore in Q4 of FY23, registering a growth of 70.35% from ₹342.35 crore in Q4FY22, and up by 77.95% compared to a profit of ₹327.75 crore in the December 2022 quarter. (Read More)

Global media and entertainment company NBCUniversal and JioCinema, Viacom18’s streaming service, have entered into a multi-year partnership bringing NBCU films and TV series to India.

That portfolio includes Comcast NBCUniversal’s production entities and brands, such as Universal Television, UCP, Universal International Studios, Universal Television Alternative Studio, Sky Studios, DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Bravo, and more. NBCU’s programming will live in a Peacock branded hub starting next month on JioCinema’s newly announced “JioCinema Premium” SVoD tier. The paid plan available for Rs. 999 a year already includes HBO content given that Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 have inked a multi-year agreement that has made JioCinema the new platform for HBO, Max Original, and Warner Bros. content in India. (Read More)

In a sigh of relief for the debt-struck island nation, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $350 million special loan to Sri Lanka on Monday. The loan is a special policy-based monetary assistance. It will provide a budget support to Sri Lanka for economic stabilisation, said ADB in its statement.

It is worth noting that the financial relief loan is a part of a broader package of financial assistance, announced by the International Monetary Extended Fund Facility for Sri Lanka. (Read More)

NIIT Ltd, a talent development company, reported a consolidated net loss of ₹9.4 crore in the quarter ending March 2023 as compared to a net profit of ₹68.4 crore earned during the same quarter last year. The company’s revenue during Q4FY23 declined 26% to ₹60 crore from ₹81 crore, YoY.

At the operational level, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss stood at ₹11 crore for the quarter as against EBITDA profit of ₹1 crore, YoY. (Read More)

European shares rose at the start as investors cheered a tentative deal reached by U.S. lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling and avert a default.

The euro zone stocks index climbed 0.4% by 0715 GMT, with the bloc’s banks among the top gainers. Trading volumes were light, with markets in the United States, the UK and several European countries closed.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday finalised a budget agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025, and said the deal was ready to move to Congress for a vote. (Reuters)

AU Small Finance Bank share price has been in uptrend after announcement of Q4 results last month. After announcement of AU Small Finance Bank results, AU Bank share price has risen from around ₹660 to ₹792.75 apiece levels, logging near 20 per cent in near one month time after the announcement of fourth quarter results for the financial year 2022-23.

AU Small Finance Bank share price today opened with an upside gap and went on to hit fresh life-time high within few minutes of stock market’s opening bell, extending its uptrend for thirteenth straight session on NSE. While climbing to new high, AU Small Finance Bank shares hit record high on second day in a row as well. (Read More)

Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTCL), the holding company of the Wadia Group, has made a provisioning of ₹1,866 crore on its investments in Go Airlines and other related financial obligations for FY23.

The provision has been made pursuant to an application filed by Go Airlines Ltd, the company that runs Go First, before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The airline moved NCLT on 2 May and its application was admitted on 10 May.

The company suspended operations on May 3 and has not announced a date to resume flight operations. (Read More)

City Union Bank share price cracked almost 10 per cent in intraday trade on BSE on Monday (May 29). The stock opened at ₹135.95 against the previous close of ₹139.40 and fell 9.6 per cent to the intraday low of ₹126, reacting to the bank’s weak March quarter numbers.

In a BSE filing post market hours on May 26, the bank said its profit after tax (PAT) for Q4FY23 rose 4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to ₹218.04 crore against a profit of ₹208.95 crore in the same quarter last year. Its operating profit for the quarter, however, fell 5 per cent YoY to ₹417.04 crore from ₹439.85 in Q4FY22.

Most brokerage firms highlighted that the bank’s March quarter numbers were weak and the road ahead appears challenging.

Brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities maintained an ‘add’ call on the City Union Bank stock with a target price of ₹150, valuing the bank at about 1.3 times book value, and nearly 10 times FY2025 EPS (earnings per share) for RoEs (return on equities) moving closer to 15 per cent levels. (Read More)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has discovered instances where certain banks attempted to hide the true state of their stressed assets, while also identifying governance gaps within select lenders, according to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday.

Addressing bank directors at an RBI-organized conference, Das highlighted the existence of “innovative ways” employed by some banks to conceal the actual status of stressed loans during the supervisory process.

“During the course of our supervisory process, certain instances of using innovative ways to conceal the real status of stressed loans have also come to our notice,” Das stated during his inaugural address.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is going to announce Q4 results today. However, ahead of the Q4 results announcement, the RVNL share price is witnessing strong buying interest among stock market bulls. RVNL share price today opened with an upside gap and went on to hit an intraday high of ₹120.80 apiece levels on NSE logging over a 4 per cent rise from its Friday close of ₹115.85 per share levels.

According to stock market experts, the market is expecting strong Q4 results from RVNL as it has a strong order book and business flow to the company is expected to continue for the next three to four years without any interruption. Hence, bulls are buying this LIC-backed multibagger stock ahead of the quarterly results announcement. They said that the multibagger railway stock is still looking positive on the chart pattern and it may go up to ₹140 apiece levels in short term. (Read More)

Private equity firm Warburg Pincus has acquired a controlling stake in Vistaar Finance, an NBFC lending to micro, small and medium enterprises in India, the firm said.

Warburg Pincus has acquired around 90% equity stake, for $250 million, through a combination of primary and secondary shares.

Former ICICI Bank executive Avijit Saha will be co-investing alongside Warburg Pincus and has been appointed chief executive officer. (Read More)

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) rose about a per cent to hit their fresh 52-week high of ₹2,344.40 in morning trade on BSE on Monday (May 29). The stock opened at ₹2,322.10 against the previous close of ₹2,324.15 and soon rose to its 52-week high level.

Top brokerage firms are positive about the stock. Brokerage firm ICICI Securities has a buy call on the stock with a target price of ₹3,000 underscoring favourable supply-demand and a strong balance sheet of the firm.

The brokerage firm highlighted that IndiGo’s free cash (excluding restricted cash) stands at ₹12,200 crore versus ₹10,600 crore as of December 2022 and a low of ₹7,760 crore as of March 2022. Including restricted cash, total cash stands at ₹23,400 crore currently. The company has debt (excluding lease liability) of ₹3,300 crore as of March 2023, implying net free cash of ₹20,100 crore including restricted cash and ₹8,800 crore excluding restricted cash. (Read More)

Greaves Cotton share price plunged nearly 10% Friday after the government asked the company’s subsidiary to return the subsidy amount along with interest for violation of guidelines. The stock price fell as much as 9.9.% to ₹133.70 apiece on the BSE.

Greaves Cotton, on May 26, said that the Ministry of Heavy Industries has directed its subsidiary Greaves Electric Mobility Private Ltd (GEMPL) to deposit subsidy of around ₹124 crore, along with interest, for violating the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) guidelines. (Read More)

Balkrishna Industries Ltd’s March quarter (Q4FY23) earnings performance disappointed investors. A normally robust quarter for the tyre maker was undermined by a surge in channel inventory clearance in end markets. Though sales volumes saw a sequential uptick, they were still down 6% YoY at around 72,700 tonnes, a factor the company’s management anticipates will be rectified starting June. As a result, Q4 profits remained lacklustre.

For FY24, the company’s management projects an optimistic outlook, buoyed by anticipated continued business momentum in the US and India. However, the specter of a recession in its crucial European market has been a damper on volumes. Despite this, the management sees the demand situation in the challenging European market stabilizing later in the year. (Read More)

India’s rupee is expected to make a comeback from its near all-time low, aided by the central bank’s decision to scale back its dollar purchases, Citigroup Inc. analysts have revealed.

Aditya Bagree, Head of Markets for India and South Asia at Citigroup in Mumbai, predicts that the currency could strengthen to as much as 80 per dollar. This anticipated resurgence is attributed to multiple factors, including declining crude prices and a surge in services exports, both of which are contributing to a reduction in the country’s current-account deficit.

IRCTC share price gained over 2% on Friday ahead of the release of company’s earnings for the quarter ending March 2023. The stock gained as much as 2.37% to ₹639.15 apiece on the BSE.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), the ticketing arm of Indian Railways, will announce its results for Q4FY23 today.

Analysts expect IRCTC’s net profit during the fourth quarter of FY23 to be around ₹260 crore, registering a growth of 19% from ₹217 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. (Read More)

Param Desai – Senior Research Analyst, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd on Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SUNP IN) – Rating: BUY | CMP: Rs970 | TP: Rs1,140

Q4FY23 Result Update – Specialty & gRevlimid drives the Q4 momentum

Quick Pointers:

§ Adjusted for milestone income, global specialty sales were up 6% QoQ.

§ Guided for high single-digit revenue growth in FY24.

We reduce our FY24/FY25 earnings estimates by 4%/2%. Sun Pharma (SUNP) Q4FY23 EBIDTA was 4% above our estimate, aided by gRevlimid and higher specialty sales. Overall specialty sales, GMs continue to remain healthy while other expenses remain elevated on back of higher SG&A and R&D spends. Over last few years SUNP dependency on US generics has reduced and company’s growth is more functional on specialty, RoW and domestic pharma business that has strong growth visibility. Furthermore, acquisition of Concert Pharma provides visibility to SUNP’s specialty pipeline beyond FY25. We maintain ‘BUY’ rating at TP of Rs.1140 (Rs1175 earlier) based on 25x FY25E earnings. SUNP remains our top pick in large cap space.

Gaurav Jani – Research Analyst, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd on City Union Bank (CUBK IN): Rating: ACCUMULATE | CMP: Rs139 | TP: Rs160

Q4FY23 Result Update – Earnings quality being tested

Quick Pointers:

§ Core earnings miss by 12% due to weaker NII led by lower NIM.

§ Bank targets loan growth of 12-15% in FY24E to be back ended.

We trim NIM by 18 bps to 3.5% and reduce multiple from 1.8x to 1.4x due to growth/pricing pressures emanating from higher competition. Downgrade from ‘BUY’ to ‘ACCUMULATE’ and rolling forward to Mar’25 our TP is Rs160 (earlier Rs190). CUB saw a weak quarter as core PPoP missed PLe by 8.5% due lower NII/NIM. However, asset quality was the silver lining as GNPA/OTR reduced by 25/117bps QoQ. For FY24E, bank guided for 12-15% loan growth that would be back-ended while it expects reported NIM to decline YoY from 3.9% to 3.7%. Intent is to keep RoA at 1.5% driven by higher recoveries and moderating provisions. CUB has tied up with BCG to help in risk assessment, pricing, portfolio modelling and digital lending. SME credit model of CUB is challenged due to competitive intensity as yields fell by 13bps YoY in FY23 compared to 100bps rise for private banks although asset quality is expected to improve over FY23-25E and valuation is favourable at 1.2x on FY25E ABV.

The shares of Adani Transmission were trading nearly 2 per cent down on Monday ahead of the company announcing its March quarter results.

On Monday, the company’s shares were down by 1.62 per cent at ₹837 on BSE.

Adani Transmission Ltd board has approved fundraise proposal allowing the issuance of fresh equities. The board of directors of the company considered and approved the proposal for fundraise in its scheduled board meeting on Saturday. However, the issuance of fresh equities not exceeding ₹8,500 crore is subject to approval by approval of the company through a postal ballot process. (Read More)

The shares of ICICI Lombard is up by nearly 10 per cent as ICICI Bank’s board on May 28 approved raising its stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance by 4 per cent in multiple transactions, according to an exchange filing on May 28.

ICICI Bank will acquire atleast 2.5 per cent stake out of the four per cent before September 9, 2024.

The shares of ICICI Lombard was trading 10 per cent up at ₹1,209.85 on BSE, while the shares of ICICI Bank was up 0.56 per cent at ₹955.90 on BSE in early trade on Monday. (Read More)

The company is focused on premium products and strong product depth with only top brands in various categories, 2) focused on retailing top brands rather than adding private labels to avoid discounting and inventory issues, 3) simple and flat floor and corporate reporting structure, which enables cost controls, quick decision making and higher employee incentives, 4) clear dominance in two states with strong growth potential in the third, which is a much larger market, 5) enjoys superior store metrics than peers, led by higher realisations, higher bill sizes and superior product mix which drive higher store throughputs, 6) robust relationships with top brands in all electronics categories. Considering the FY23 performance we have tweaked our estimates accordingly and remain positive ahead. The company valuations have been reasonable compared to competition and we maintain Buy on the stock with PT of ₹90.

The Indian rupee opened flat Monday against the US dollar after a tentative deal to raise the US debt ceiling raised hopes that the US Federal Reserve will raise rates next month. The local unit opened at 82.58 a dollar as compared to Friday’s close of 82.57 per dollar.

US President Joe Biden finalised a budget agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the existing debt ceiling until January 1, 2025. (Read More)

Nifty Bank index hit a record high in the early trade on Monday led by strong buying in banking heavyweights. The index gained nearly 1% to hit an all-time high of 44,440.15, crossing its earlier level of 44,151.8 hit in October 2022.

All the constituents of the Nifty Bank index were trading in the green led by IndusInd Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank rising more than a per cent each, followed by Bandhan Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank, SBI and Axis Bank gaining over half a per cent each.

Nifty Bank has gained over 3% this year so far, while the index has rallied more than 25% in the last one-year period. (Read More)

Mahindra and Mahindra share price rose over 5 per cent in early deals on Monday (May 29) boosted by the company’s healthy March quarter earnings. The stock opened over 2 per cent higher at ₹1,312.05 and soon rose over 5 per cent to ₹1,350 level.

As Mint reported earlier, Mahindra & Mahindra on May 26 reported a standalone net profit of ₹1,549 crore in the quarter that ended March 2023, registering a growth of 22.1 per cent from ₹1,268 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company’s revenue from operations from Q4FY23 rose 31 per cent to ₹22,571.4 crore from ₹17,237 crore, YoY.

Most brokerage firms are upbeat about the stock, believing that the auto segment will be the driver of growth for the company. (Read More)

Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services: The ‘in principle’ deal on US debt ceiling is a near-term relief to stock markets and, therefore, can aid continuation of the ongoing rally which can take Nifty to new record highs. Sustained FPI inflows and positive macroeconomic trends like FY23 GDP expected at 7.1 %, CPI inflation (April CPI inflation is 4.7%) coming within RBI’s comfort zone and sustained buoyancy in tax collections, can provide fundamental support to the rally. But it is important to appreciate the fact that at higher market levels, valuations will be difficult to justify and this can attract selling pressure.

IT large-caps have been witnessing value-buying and there is some more room for up moves in this segment. Financials and autos are on a strong wicket.

MM Forgings shares are one of those dividend stocks that are going to trade ex-dividend today. As per the information available on BSE and NSE, this auto ancillary stock has declared ₹6 per share interim dividend for the financial year 2023-24. The small-cap company had informed Indian bourses this month about the dividend payment and record date for finalising the eligible shareholders for interim dividend payment. The board of directors of the company has fixed 29th May 2023 as record date for interim dividend payment. (Read More)

Through a reverse triangular merger, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has proposed to buy out all of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries’ shares. Sun Pharma will purchase the shares in the all-cash deal for US $38 per ordinary share, which will be paid in full at the completion of the proposed transaction.

According to Sun Pharma’s filing to the markets, the proposed price reflects a premium of 31.2% over Taro’s closing price on May 25, 2023, and a 41.5% premium over Taro’s average closing price over the previous 60 days.

Sun Pharma and its affiliates’ shares are not included in the proposed transaction. After the transaction is complete, Sun Pharma will own all of the business. (Read More)

India plans to challenge certain provisions of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as the government is concerned about its impact on steel exports from India, steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha said. He said certain CBAM clauses deviate from World Trade Organization norms. The steel ministry has advised importers to look at India-made steel products to substitute imports, Sinha said in an interview. The government has also set up 13 task forces to formulate a strategy for green steel production, Sinha added. Edited excerpts:

Bitcoin, the largest digital token, experienced a remarkable climb, reaching its highest level in more than two weeks. The surge was fueled by an increase in investor sentiment following a deal to raise the US debt limit.

On Monday, Bitcoin saw an impressive gain of up to 3.2%, with its trading price reaching $28,182 as of 9:32 a.m. in Singapore. The cryptocurrency remained volatile, hovering around its 50-day moving average. Notably, other smaller tokens like Ether and Binance Coin also recorded notable gains during this period.

The recent agreement reached between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the debt ceiling has significantly improved risk appetite in global markets. However, for the agreement to take effect and prevent a potential US default, it must swiftly pass through Congress.

Adani Transmission, HeidelbergCement India, Torrent Power, Force Motors, Essar Shipping, Sobha, and Zee Media Corp will be among the stocks in focus as they will be declaring their March quarter earnings today. (Read More)

State-run PTC India Ltd on Saturday reported 8.07% decline in its consolidated net profit for the last financial year (FY23) at ₹507.15 crore.

In FY22 the company had registered a net profit of ₹551.67 crore.

PTC India’s revenue from operations in the last financial year was ₹15,492.05 crore, 4.8% lower than ₹16,279.25 crore earned in FY22.

The trading volumes were down by 19% in FY23 to 70,610 million units (MU) compared to 87,515 (MU) in FY22 on account of a decrease of around 15.1 BUs in low-margin power exchange-traded volumes. The per unit core margin realized during the year has increased by 13.5% to 3.20 paisa per unit, compared to 2.82 paisa per unit, said a company statement. (Read More)

Welcoming the news of a deal to suspend the US debt ceiling, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank president Austan Goolsbee on Sunday said failure to forge an agreement would be “extremely negative” for the financial system.

Goolsbee in an interview on CBS said that he was heartened by indications US lawmakers will ratify the debt ceiling deal embraced by Republican congressional leader Kevin McCarthy and Democratic President Joe Biden.

“If you did not do that, the consequences for the financial system and for the broader economy would be extremely negative,” Goolsbee said. “Even the anticipation of these problems does have consequences on the economy, it does have consequences on financial markets.” (Read More)

Driven by robust performance across business verticals, Mahindra & Mahindra on Friday reported an 18 per cent jump in its consolidated profit at ₹2,637 crore for the March quarter and highest-ever annual profit of ₹10,282 crore in FY23.

The automaker also announced that its has revised upward the capital expenditure (capex) outlay for the three years cycle of FY22-FY24 to ₹15,900 crore from ₹15,075 crore.

The Mumbai-based company had reported a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹2,237 crore in the January-March quarter of 2021-22 fiscal.

Revenue increased to ₹32,366 crore for the fourth quarter of FY23, as compared to ₹25,934 crore in the year-ago period. (PTI)

Nvidia Corp. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said that firms and individuals should familiarize themselves with artificial intelligence or they would risk losing out.

Nvidia Corp’s CEO Huang said that artificial intelligence will transform the corporate landscape and change every single job. The chip design company reached an all-time high Friday fueled by huge demand from AI service providers, gave a commencement address on Saturday.

“Agile companies will take advantage of AI and boost their position. Companies less so will perish,” the CEO told graduating students at the National Taiwan University in Taipei. (Read More)

Vaishali Parekh has recommended three intraday stocks for today. Here we list out full details in regard to those day trading stocks:

1] Coromandel International: Buy at ₹937, target ₹970, stop loss ₹922;

2] Titan Company: Buy at ₹2742, target ₹2830, stop loss ₹2700; and

3] Eicher Motors: Buy at ₹3690, target ₹3790, stop loss ₹3640. (Read More)

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) announced its Q4FY23 results on May 26, reporting a consolidated net profit of ₹5,701 crore, down 53 per cent, compared to ₹12,061 crore in the corresponding period last year. The state-run petroleum giant’s revenue from operations during the January-March quarter stood at ₹164,066.72 crore, registering a growth of five per cent, compared to ₹155,946.99 crore in the year-ago period.

ONGC’s consolidated turnover stood at Rs.6,84,829 crore in FY23, compared to ₹5,31,793 crore in FY22. On a standalone basis, the oil and gas explorer reported a net loss of ₹247 crore in the fourth quarter, compared to a net profit of ₹8,859.5 crore in the same period last year. (Read More)

During the week, the performance of the domestic market was influenced by global cues, FIIs inflows, hawkish comments from US Fed officials, US debt ceiling negotiations and the last round of corporate earnings. Consistent FII buying may maintain investor confidence on Dalal Street this week, in addition to experts anticipating that India’s FY23 GDP would only barely outperform the initially projected 7.0% growth rate. In addition to market activity, the following companies will report their Q4 and FY23 earnings this week.

May 29: Adani Transmission, IRCTC, and others…

May 30: Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, and others. (Read More)

State-run Power Finance Corp. Ltd (PFC) is looking to diversify its loan book and venture into funding road infrastructure projects, two people aware of the development said.

Currently, it is in talks with Oman’s Galfar group, which will be developing the stretch of the new National Highway-52 (old NH 65), passing through Salasar, Rajasthan, to the Haryana border, said one of the two people, seeking anonymity.

The construction is being done via a special-purpose vehicle, Salasar Highways Pvt. Ltd, which is promoted by Galfar Engineering and Contracting SAOG, and Galfar Engineering and Contracting India Pvt. Ltd. (GCIPL). (Read More)

U.S. stocks finished sharply higher on Friday as talks on raising the U.S. debt ceiling progressed, while chip stocks surged for a second straight day on optimism about artificial intelligence.

After several rounds of talks, U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy appeared to be nearing a deal to increase the government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit for two years, while capping spending on most items, a U.S. official told Reuters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended a five-day losing streak, while the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 closed at their highest levels since August 2022, with the S&P 500 above 4,200 points.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 6.3%, bringing its gain in the past two sessions to over 13%. Building on recent euphoria related to AI, Marvell Technology Inc jumped 32% after the chipmaker said it would double its annual revenue related to AI.

Investors were closely watching debt ceiling talks as Biden and McCarthy still seemed at odds over several issues heading into the long weekend, with the U.S. stock market closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

“All the signs point to a deal getting done and this rally being sustained, but if we get through the weekend and we don’t have a deal or it falls apart in some way, then we’re going to wake up Tuesday morning to some pretty material losses,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Reuters)