Indian indices ended flat on Friday as losses in metal, auto stocks offset a surge in FMCG majors. Asian Paints surged 8.5 percent and UPL ralled over 7 percent after both the stock reported stellar earnings for the March quarter.

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The Sensex ended 42 points higher at 48,732 while the Nifty fell 19 points to settle at 14,678. Both indices finished the holiday-shortened week about 1 percent lower after losses earlier in the week on US inflation worries.

Broader markets underperformed benchmarks with the midcap and smallcap indices down around 1.5 percent each for the day.

Here are the key stocks that moved today:

PowerGrid InvIT: The initial public offering (IPO) of PowerGrid Infrastructure Investment Trust (PowerGrid InvIT) made a muted debut on the bourses today. The stock rose 3 percent to Rs 103 per share on BSE as against its issue price of Rs 100 per unit. The IPO was open for subscription from April 29-May 3 with a price band fixed at Rs 99-100 per unit. Sponsored by Power Grid Corporation of India, this was the first InvIT to be launched by the government company.

Asian Paints: The share price of Asian Paints surged over 8 percent after the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the March quarter. The company reported an 81.13 percent jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 869.89 crore in Q4 helped by volume growth in the domestic as well as in the international market. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 480.25 crore during the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal, Asian Paints said in a regulatory filing.

UPL: The share price of UPL rallied over 7 percent after the company reported better-than-estimated earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. The agrochemical company reported a consolidated profit at Rs 1,361 crore in Q4FY21, registering a 74 percent growth against Rs 784 crore in the year-ago quarter. The company’s consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter rose 14.8 percent to Rs 12,796 crore from Rs 11,141 crore, YoY, with volume growth at 18 percent and a price increase of 1 percent

HG Infra Engineering: Shares of HG Infra Engineering soared 15 percent after the company reported a robust set of numbers for the quarter ended March 2021 (Q4FY21), with standalone profit after tax jumping 91 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 97.70 crore on the back of strong revenue. The construction and engineering company had logged a profit of Rs 51.3 crore in Q4FY20.

Welspun India: Welspun India shares rose 10 percent after the firm said that it has again signed an agreement with US-based retailer Target Corp. It added that until FY16, business with Target Corp accounted for 10 percent of the overall business.

(Edited by : Pranati Deva)