Key benchmarks pared gains in mid-morning trade. At 11:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 133.74 points or 0.35% at 38,662.06. The Nifty 50 index gained 35.9 points or 0.3% at 11,420.35.
The broader market was traded with decent gains. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.77% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.9%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1618 shares rose and 815 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.
Investors will keep eyes on minutes from the US Federal Reserve's recent meeting due on Wednesday which may provide some insight into how the central bank sees the recovery playing out. The Fed has cut rates to near zero to bolster business through the pandemic.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,134.57 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 379.38 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 August, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
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Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 22,059,933 with 7,79,557 deaths. India reported 6,76,514 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 52,889 deaths while 20,37,870 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Bank index gained 0.96% to 22,382.80. The index has added 3.24% in three days.
Punjab National Bank (up 4.87%), Federal Bank (up 2.99%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.15%), SBI (up 2.05%), Bandhan Bank (up 1.6%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.36%), ICICI Bank (up 1.24%), RBL Bank (up 1.07%) and Axis Bank (up 0.72%) were top gainers in Bank Nifty.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Dixon Technologies was up 1.91%. The company's board will meet on Friday, 21 August 2020 to consider and approve the raising of funds by way of issuance of any instrument or security, including equity shares, fully / partly convertible debentures, foreign currency convertible bonds, warrant s, or any combination thereof.
NIIT advanced 2.11% to Rs 101.75 after Nippon India Mutual Fund hiked its stake by purchasing additional 11.71 lakh shares or 0.8274% stake in the company. Post transaction, Nippon India Mutual Fund's shareholding increased to 1.04 crore equity shares or 7.3828% stake from 92.85 lakh shares or 6.5554% stake in the IT training services company. The shares were acquired from open market on 14 August 2020.
IRB Infrastructure Developers soared 12.83% to Rs 134.10 after the company on Tuesday (18 August) said it received unanimous arbitral award of Rs 73.86 crore for one of its earlier projects in Punjab.
Global Markets:
Most Asian stocks declined on Wednesday. Japan's exports in July declined 19.2% as compared to a year ago, according to provisional trade statistics from the country's Ministry of Finance released Wednesday.
In US, the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Tuesday, rebounding from huge losses triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon, which rose 4.1%, was the largest gainer in the S&P 500. Strong sales growth was reported by major US retailers including Walmart, Kohl's and Home Depot. Meanwhile, Nasdaq clocked a record closing high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 66.84 points, or 0.24%, to 27,778.07, the S&P 500 gained 7.79 points, or 0.23%, to 3,389.78 and the Nasdaq Composite added 81.12 points, or 0.73%, to 11,210.84.
Data on Tuesday showed US homebuilding accelerated by the most in nearly four years in July in the latest sign the housing sector is emerging as one of the few areas of strength in an economy suffering a record slowdown. That further added to market optimism.
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