Key equity indices extended early gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 246.99 points or 0.70% at 35,507.53. The Nifty 50 index was up 61.90 points or 0.58% at 10,678.60. Sentiment was boosted by hopes of a halt in the China-US trade conflicts.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1130 shares rose and 843 shares fell. A total of 88 shares were unchanged.
Bharti Airtel (up 2.39%), Reliance Industries (up 1.92%), Wipro (up 1.39%), HDFC (up 1.37%), HDFC Bank (up 1.26%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.21%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.17%), were the major Sensex gainers.
Yes Bank (down 6.24%), ONGC (down 2.45%), Infosys (down 1.36%), Tata Steel (down 0.87%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.4%), were the major Sensex losers.
On the economic front, India's exports rose by 17.86% to $26.98 billion in October mainly due to the low base effect even as trade deficit widened to $17.13 billion, according to the commerce ministry data. Imports during October also rose by 17.62% to $44.11 billion, leading to widening of trade deficit to $17.13 billion. The deficit widened despite a steep decline of 42.9% in gold imports to $1.68 billion during the month under review. The trade gap was $14.61 billion in October 2017.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 2043.06 crore on 15 November 2018, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 165.31 crore on 15 November 2018, as per provisional data.
Overseas, Asian shares were mixed amid fresh uncertainties emerging from the UK overnight after multiple important ministers resigned from Prime Minister Theresa May's government.
The UK was thrust into political turmoil on Thursday following a spate of resignations from Prime Minister Theresa May's government, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who said he could not accept the deal after the promises the ruling Conservative Party made to the country in an election manifesto last year.
US stocks snapped a multi-day skid, finishing higher on Thursday buoyed by renewed hopes the US and China can strike a compromise on trade. Cautious optimism took hold following a report that the US may back off from its belligerent stance against China on trade while solid economic data offset underwhelming earnings from Walmart Inc.
A media report suggested that the US and China may step up efforts to resolve their trade conflict, starting with postponing higher tariffs and allowing working level negotiators to iron out a deal.
On the US data front, first-time jobless claims for the week ending 10 November 2018 rose 2,000 to 216,000 in the week ended 10 November 2018. The Philly Fed index dropped 9.3 points to 12.9, a three-month low. The Empire State index rose 2.2 points to 23.3 in November.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)