The market trimmed gains in mid-morning trade as profit selling emerged at higher levels. At 11:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 201.96 points or 0.57% at 35,462.50. The Nifty 50 index was up 56.90 points or 0.54% at 10,673.60. Sentiment was boosted by hopes of a halt in the China-US trade conflicts. Most IT and pharmaceutical shares rose.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1130 shares rose and 1072 shares fell. A total of 117 shares were unchanged.
Most IT shares rose. Oracle Financial Services Software (up 2.87%), HCL Technologies (up 2.33%), Wipro (up 1.10%), TCS (up 0.88%), Persistent Systems (up 0.59%), MphasiS (up 0.51%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.49%) and MindTree (up 0.47%), edged higher. Hexaware Technologies (down 0.79%) and Infosys (down 1.17%), edged lower.
Most pharmaceutical shares rose. Strides Shasun (up 2.52%), Cipla (up 1.66%), Wockhardt (up 1.6%), Lupin (up 0.87%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.86%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.66%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.65%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.61%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.57%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.41%) and Piramal Enterprises (up 0.29%), edged higher. IPCA Laboratories (down 0.32%), Cadila Healthcare (down 1.06%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.22%), edged lower.
SRF fell 0.50% after the company announced that the facility to produce agrochemical at Chemical Complex in Dahej, Gujarat has been commissioned. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 15 November 2018.
SRF said that on 22 May 2017, the company's board had approved setting-up a facility to produce agrochemical at Chemical Complex in Dahej, Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 180 crore. Since the initial approval, there has been capacity enhancement compared to initial design, backward integration to enhance competitiveness and increase in input costs such as steel, graphite, PTFC etc, SRF said. The project has been commissioned and capitalised at a cost of Rs 257 crore, it added.
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.
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