The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices settled at their respective new highs on the closing basis on the BSE, following a strong rally in education, pharmaceutical, chemicals, infrastructure and jewellery stocks.
The S&P BSE Smallcap index ended at record high of 17,943.86 on closing level on Thursday surpassed its previous high of 17,910.90 on November 6, 2017. The S&P Midcap index too closed at new high of 16,836.18, surpassed it earlier high of 16,794.23 on November 21, 2017. READ MORE
3:48 PM
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services
Market traded between gains and losses due to subdued trend in global market. After the completion of Q2 results, investors are looking for fresh triggers, upcoming state elections will be a key catalyst in the direction. On the global front, US Fed’s divergence in opinion on inflation growth in the minutes may refrain the chair to take aggressive rate hike in December which is positive for Indian market.
3:47 PM
Sectoral trend
Source: NSE
3:45 PM
Market breadth
Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, remained positive. 1,442 shares gained, 1,254 shares declined, while 158 shares remained unchanged.
3:43 PM
Sensex heatmap at close
Source: BSE
3:38 PM
Markets at close
The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 33,588, up 26 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 10,348, up 6 points.
3:25 PM
Insurance stocks trade weak
Shares of insurance companies were trading lower by up to 5% on the BSE on fears of higher tax rate.
HDFC Standard Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance and Max Financial Services were down in the range of 3% to 5% on the BSE. By comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.11% at 33,597 at 02:45 PM. READ MORE DETAILS
3:02 PM
China shares tumble on bond rout
Chinese shares tumbled on Thursday with the blue-chip index suffering its worst fall in nearly 1-1/2 years as worries about a sell-off in the bond market bled into equities.
Consumer and healthcare firms led the fall and dragged the CSI300 index down sharply by 2.93 per cent, to 4103.73, its biggest fall in percentage terms since June 13, 2016. The broader Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.26 per cent to 3352.99 points, its worst day since December. READ FULL REPORT
2:40 PM
Govt exempts oil & gas PSU mergers from CCI approval
Merger and acquisition deals involving public sector oil and gas companies have been exempted from seeking the Competition Commission's approval, says a notification.
The corporate affairs ministry's decision to exempt such deals from the ambit of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) comes against the backdrop of the proposed consolidation and stake purchases among state-owned oil and gas companies. READ MORE
2:21 PM
Aditya Birla Fashion fails to join the retail rally
Stocks of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) have not been a favourite on the bourses but brokerages remain bullish, hoping the network expansion of Pantaloons will bring growth. Stocks of most retailers have surged in the current financial year. Future Retail and Avenue Supermart (D-Mart) rose 100 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively.
But ABFRL has moved less than one per cent. Despite this slow movement, CLSA has maintained a ‘buy’ on the stock in a note sent to its clients early this week. READ FULL REPORT
2:01 PM
Markets check
At 2:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 33,536, down 25 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,329, down 13 points.
Tide is turning for corporate earnings: Morgan Stanley
Corporate earnings have failed to meet expectations quarter after quarter. And the latest one (September quarter) is no different. However, foreign brokerage Morgan Stanley believes the trend could reverse this quarter onwards.
“Some market participants may be anchored to the decade gone by, remaining skeptical about the earnings growth recovery. We believe the cycle is turning as corporate India has come out of the balance sheet and earnings recession. We expect an earning CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) at 20 per cent in the next two years,” said analysts Sheela Rathi and Ridham Desai. READ FULL STORY
1:30 PM
Nifty PSU Bank top sectoral loser
State-owned banks fell after closing 1.3% higher on Wednesday following the cabinet’s approval to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Source: NSE
1:09 PM
12 stocks from BSE Smallcap index rally over 25% in one week
Jai Corp, Purvankara, Kolte-Patil Developers, Speciality Restaurants, Gitanjali Gems, Sterling Tools and Aptech are among 12 stocks from the S&P BSE Smallcap index that have rallied more than 25% in past one week.
BF Investment, Action Construction Company, Arshiya, Nila Infrastructure and RattanIndia Power surged an over 25% during the period. READ MORE
12:47 PM
IT, ITeS stocks trade mixed on reports of Rs 10,000 cr service tax demand
Shares of Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS) companies such as Infosys, TCS, and Mindtree were trading mixed on Thursday following news reports that the tax department has demanded from them the service tax worth nearly Rs 10,000 crore.
Although the Nifty IT (up 1%) index was the leading sectoral gainer in the noon trade, most of the gains came from Infosys (up 2%), KPII (up 3%) and Tech Mahindra (up 2%). Mindtree, Wipro and Oracle Financial Services Software lost up to 1% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). READ MORE
In a volatile trading session, the benchmark indices ended flat with the Nifty settling below 10,350 as the market consolidated in want of fresh triggers after the September quarter earnings season wound down.
Shares of insurance companies shed up to 5% after the Finance Ministry formed a task force to study and submit a report on redrafting of the direct tax code within six months.
Meanwhile, a rally in oil prices continued to reduce expectations of rate cuts ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s policy meeting early next month.
Overseas, Chinese shares tumbled with the blue-chip index suffering its worst fall in nearly 1-1/2 years as worries about a sell-off in the bond market bled into equities. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday and the United States were off for Thanksgiving.
 "Markets settle volatile session flat, Nifty ends below 10350; DRL top loser")
