Stocks once again regained strength in afternoon trade after trimming intraday gains in early afternoon trade. At 13:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 202.39 points or 0.56% at 36,183.32. The Nifty 50 index was up 50.55 points or 0.47% at 10,852.70. Investors sentiment was strong amid a firm trend overseas, supported by rising hopes that the US and China would strike a deal to end their trade war.
Indices opened higher and continued trading on a firm note in morning trade. Indices trimmed gains in mid-morning trade. The market further pared gains in early afternoon trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.03%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.07%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1154 shares rose and 1215 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.
Axis Bank (up 1.78%), Tata Motors (up 1.67%), ITC (up 1.51%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.11%) and Bharti Airtel (up 1.11%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Hero MotoCorp (down 1%), HCL Technologies (down 0.49%) and Yes Bank (down 0.44%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
IndusInd Bank fell 0.63% ahead of its Q3 December 2018 results today, 9 January 2019.
TCS rose 0.15%. TCS will announce Q3 December 2018 results on Thursday, 10 January 2019.
Tata Steel was down 2.33%. The company said that standalone steel production was marginally up in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017 with steady plant utilization. Sales volume was lower due to seasonal headwinds, particularly in terms of softer Automotive demand, and inventory replenishment. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 January 2019.
Meanwhile, India's GDP is expected to grow at 7.3% in the fiscal year 2018-19, and 7.5% in the following two years, the World Bank has forecast, attributing it to an upswing in consumption and investment growth. The World Bank said India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy in the world.
Overseas, Asian shares rose on Wednesday, as investors remained cautiously optimistic Beijing and Washington could move forward on a trade deal. Investors will be watching out for developments on the US-China trade front after negotiations between the world's two largest economies extended into an unscheduled third day.
US stocks closed higher for a third straight session Tuesday as optimism over US-China trade talks bolstered sentiment.
On the US data front, small-business optimism fell in December, according to the National Federation of Independent Business small-business optimism index, which decreased 0.4 points to a seasonally adjusted level of 104.4, its lowest in 14 months.
The number of new job openings fell to its lowest level since June, at 6.89 million, down from 7.13 million in October, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The Census Bureau was scheduled to release data on the trade deficit Tuesday morning, but the release was delayed due to the government shutdown.
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