Stocks were trading firm in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 241.23 points or 0.76% at 32,046.05. The Nifty index was up 66 points or 0.67% at 9,882.10. Both the Sensex and the Nifty hit fresh record high in mid-morning trade. Expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after latest data showed that retail inflation has eased to a record in June and factory output growth slowed sharply in May bolstered sentiment on the domestic bourses.
Key benchmark indices saw gap up opening on positive global cues, with the Sensex scaling past the 32,000 mark in early trade. Stocks firmed up further in mid-morning trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.69%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.74%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,447 shares rose and 896 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher as dovish comments from US Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen improved risk-taking appetite.
US stocks closed higher yesterday, 12 July 2017 with the Dow industrials setting its first closing record in nearly a month as Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen emphasized the central bank's gradual approach to normalizing monetary policy and expressed optimism about the economy in congressional testimony.
In her testimony on Capitol Hill, Yellen signaled that the Fed would take a cautious approach to tightening policy in the face of an uncertain inflation outlook. She said the Fed would continue to raise interest rates gradually, though it would change plans if inflation weakness persisted.
Back home, index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC gained 2.36% to Rs 336.45. The stock hit a high of Rs 336.80 and low of Rs 331.55 so far during the day.
Most FMCG stocks rose. Marico (up 1.65%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.52%), Britannia Industries (up 1.01%), GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.45%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 0.37%), Dabur India (up 0.23%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.46%) and Nestle India (up 0.4%) rose. Tata Global Beverages (down 0.43%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.3%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.94%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (down 0.08%) fell.
Hatsun Agro Product rose 2.91% on reports that the company has tied up with a German firm to set up a dairy plant in Tamil Nadu. According to reports, Germany-based GEA Process Engineering has bagged a contract from Hatsun Agro Product to set up a greenfield dairy plant for it on turnkey basis at Dharapuram near Coimbatore at an investment of Rs 120 crore.
The fully automated plant will process 6.5 lakh litres milk a day to pack 3 lakh litres of liquid milk and 1.5 lakh litres of curd. It will be in production in early 2018. The plant will be equipped with a Reverse Osmosis facility, a novel feature, to concentrate skim milk, a cold process to ensure natural freshness of the products.
Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals advanced 2.13% after the company said it has delivered a ship to the buyer on 11 July 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 12 July 2017.
Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals said that it has delivered the ship - Ratna Shalini to the buyer on 11 July 2017. Earlier in May 2017, the company announced that it executed a memorandum of agreement with Rialto Navigation S.A., Liberia for sale of the ship - Ratna Shalini for a consideration of $24.5 million.
On the macro front, government data released after market hours yesterday, 12 July 2017 showed that retail inflation has eased to a record in June and factory output growth slowed sharply in May. Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed to 1.54% in June from 2.18% in May. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 1.7% in May compared with 3.1% in April.
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