BSE index rose to a five-and-a-half month high on Thursday, heading for a sixth consecutive session of gains with IT stocks leading the rally, while Bharti Airtel hit an 18-month high on its plan to buy Telenor India. But analysts said the momentum could wane and the market may enter a consolidation phase as global factors, including potential US rate hikes, gain prominence. Some volatility in trading is also likely ahead of the expiry of derivatives contracts later in the day.
The Reserve Bank of India is expected to keep rates on hold this year, with minutes of its 7 February to 8 February meeting showing concerns about inflation, and three of the six members of the monetary policy panel voicing the need to shift the policy stance to “neutral” from “accommodative.” “The Indian market has been fairly positive in the last few days. Some consolidation and correction can be seen but the gains have been mostly triggered by stock-specific moves,” said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities.
The broader NSE index was up 0.39% at 8,961.75 as of 11.28am, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.37 %higher at 28,970.14, after touching its highest since 9 September. Shares of Bharti Airtel rose as much as 11.1% to their highest since 13 August 2015 after it said it would buy Norwegian Telenor’s India unit, in yet another consolidation move driven by upstart rival Jio’s disruptive pricing.
Idea Cellular, which is in talks with Vodafone’s Indian unit about a merger, also rose as much as 8.35%, on hopes of increased consolidation in the sector. Meanwhile, IT stocks recovered, with the Nifty IT Index rising 1.6% after having shed 1.55% a day earlier.
1.56pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 160 points, or 0.55%, to 29,025, while the Nifty 50 rises 51 points, or 0.57%, to 8,978.
12.28pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 73 points, or 0.25%, to 28,938, while the Nifty 50 rises 23 points, or 0.26%, to 8,950.
11.55am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 82 points, or 0.28%, to 28,947, while the Nifty 50 rises 27 points, or 0.30%, to 8,953. BSE IT index rises 1.53% and BSE telecom index is higher by 3.76%.
10.26am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 53 points, or 0.18%, to 28,918, while the Nifty 50 rises 18 points, or 0.20%, to 8,945.
10.20am: Adlabs Entertainment Ltd shares surge 14% to Rs90.50 after huge block deal. Around 13.4 lakh or 1.7% stake of the company changed hands in two block deal. However details of the deals were not known, according to CNBC.
10.10am: ICICI Bank shares fall 1% after block deal. Around 1 million shares of the company changed hands in single block deal. However, details of the buyer and sellers were not known, according to Bloomberg.
10.00am: Amtek Auto Ltd shares rise 3.2% to Rs37.20 ahead of its board meeting due later on Thursday to consider issue of shares.
9.55am: Housing finance companies trade higher after Sebi eases curbs on mutual fund exposure on housing finance companies. Gruh Finance Ltd shares rise 1.7%, PNB Housing Finance Ltd shares 1.5%, Repco Home Finance Ltd shares 2.1%, Dewan Housing Finance Ltd shares 3%, and GIC Housing Finance Ltd shares rise 2.4%
9.50am: Jyoti Structures Ltd shares surge 8% to Rs9.78 after The Financial Express reported that the Essel Infraprojects and Shriram EPC may bid for stake in the company.
9.40am: IT stocks trading higher.Tata Consultancy Services Ltd shares rise 2%, Infosys Ltd shares rise 1.1%, Wipro Ltd shares 1%, HCL Technologies Ltd shares 1%, Tech Mahindra Ltd shares rise 1.4%
9.30am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 55 points, or 0.19%, to 28,920, while the Nifty 50 rises 18 points, or 0.20%, to 8,945.
9.25am: Bharti Airtel Ltd shares jump 10% to Rs397 after the company said in a notice to BSE that it will buy Telenor India Communications for undisclosed amount.
9.20am: Idea Cellular Ltd shares rise 4.4% to Rs 117.40 after The Economic Times reported that SoftBank is in talks with Vodafone Plc to buy a minority stake in its Indian unit which is likely to be merged with Idea Cellular.
9.15am: The local currency opened at 66.94 a dollar. At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 66.93, up 0.05% from its previous close of 66.97.
9.10am: India’s 10-year bond yield rose to 6.937% compared to its Wednesday’s close of 6.939%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
9.00am: Most of the Asian currencies were trading higher. South Korean won was up 0.28%, Taiwan dollar 0.15%, Malaysian ringgit 0.09%, Thai baht 0.06%, Philippines peso 0.06%, Indonesian rupiah 0.04%. However, Singapore dollar was down 0.21%, China offshore 0.11%.
With inputs from Reuters
