Key benchmark indices remained firm in early afternoon trade led by gains in Index heavyweights ITC, ICICI Bank and Infosys. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 170.61 points or 0.58% at 29,746.18. The Nifty 50 index was up 39.20 points or 0.43% at 9,220.65. Domestic bourses bucked weak trend witnessed in most of the Asian markets. Indices are set to snap previous three sessions of losses.
Market held firm after extending initial gains after witnessing a positive opening.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.25%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.6%, outperforming the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1,606 shares rose and 972 shares fell. A total of 116 shares were unchanged.
Metal and mining stocks were mixed. Bhushan Steel (down 1.98%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.63%), Tata Steel (down 1.14%), Steel Authority of India (down 1.72%), JSW Steel (down 1.47%), and Hindustan Zinc (down 0.82%) declined. NMDC (up 0.52%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.18%), and National Aluminium Company (up 1.48%) edged higher.
Vedanta slumped 6.57% as the stock turned ex-dividend today, 11 April 2017, for interim dividend of Rs 17.70 per share for the year ended 31 March 2017.
Shares of power generation and power distribution companies traded mixed. Torrent Power (down 0.95%), NTPC (down 1.05%), and Reliance Power (down 0.72%) declined. GVK Power & Infrastructure (up 0.83%), NHPC (up 0.79%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.56%), and Reliance Infrastructure (up 0.41%) gained.
Tata Power Company (down 4.36%) and Adani Power (down 13.98%) tumbled on report that the Supreme Court disallowed compensatory tariffs to both the companies.
Gujarat Apollo Industries rose 3.61% after the company said its board will consider share buyback on 13 April 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 10 April 2017.
Aarti Industries rose 1.45% after the company announced that its board of directors have approved an investment of Rs 75 crore to set up a world class research and development (R&D), scale-up and innovation complex at Jhagadia, Gujarat spread over 50,000 sq. ft. and equipped with the state-of-the-art equipment and analytical tools.
The new complex would comprise an R&D centre, a scale-up facility consisting of a kilo-lab and a pilot plant, an innovation center, dedicated labs for process safety, effluent treatment, etc. It will house over 150 scientists and engineers responsible for researching and developing breakthrough innovations, as well as for commercial scale up of various speciality chemicals. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 10 April 2017.
Overseas, Asian stocks declined as rising tensions in the Middle East and political uncertainty in Europe kept investors on edge, underpinning safe assets such as the yen, gold and treasuries.
The upcoming French presidential election and the heightened tensions in the Middle East following the US strikes on Syria have left investors nervous even as a raft of global data over recent months have pointed to a steadily improving global economy. In France, polls for many weeks have been showing centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen on track to top the first round of voting on 23 April and go through to a 7 May runoff.
US stocks closed fractionally higher yesterday, 10 April 2017, amid geopolitical tensions while investors looked ahead to the start of earnings season.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen indicated yesterday that the era of extremely stimulative monetary policy was coming to an end. In a public discussion at the University of Michigan, Yellen said the Fed was moving away from its efforts to revive a recession-scarred economy and focusing instead on maintaining the gains of the past few years.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)