Indices settle with modest gains

Key indices settled with modest gains to close higher for second day in a row. Positive global cues supported gains on the domestic bourses. The Nifty settled below 10,800 mark after opening above that level. The Sensex settled below 36,000 mark after opening above that level.

The key indices jumped at opening trades and advanced further. However, the indices came off day's high in morning trade as profit selling emerged at higher levels. The indices firmed up once again in mid-morning trade amid fresh buying support. Benchmarks turned range bound in early afternoon trade. Indices held firm at higher levels in mid-afternoon trade. Indices pared gains in late trade.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 157.34 points or 0.44% to settle at 35,807.28. The index hit high of 36,041.24 and low of 35,781.95 in intraday trade.

The Nifty 50 index rose 49.95 points or 0.47% to settle at 10,779.80. The index hit high of 10,834.20 and low of 10,764.45 in intraday trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.32%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.31%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1315 shares rose and 1241 shares fell. A total of 192 shares were unchanged.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Energy index (up 1.54%), the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 1.04%), the S&P BSE IT index (up 1.32%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Auto index (down 0.37%), the S&P BSE Metal index (down 0.31%), the S&P BSE Basic Materials index (down 0.26%) underperformed the Sensex.

Reliance Industries (up 2.1%), ONGC (up 1.67%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 1.33%), Asian Paints (up 1.31%) and ITC (up 1.1%) were the major Sensex gainers.

Hero MotoCorp (down 1.71%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.51%), Tata Motors (down 1.23%), Tata Steel (down 1.14%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.86%) were the major Sensex losers.

Infosys rose 1.98%. With respect to media reports indicating Infosys is likely to buy back shares again, for $1.6 billion, Infosys during market hours today said that in line with the capital allocation policy, the board from time to time will decide the manner of returning the identified amount subject to applicable laws and requisite approvals, if any.

As previously disclosed on 13 April 2018, out of the cash on the Balance Sheet, the board identified an amount of up to Rs 13000 crore to be paid to shareholders by a special dividend of Rs 10 per share resulting in a payout of approximately Rs 2600 crore in June 2018; and identified an amount of up to approximately Rs 10400 crore to be paid out to shareholders for the Financial Year 2019, in such a manner, to be decided by the board, subject to applicable laws and requisite approvals, if any.

NTPC rose 1.68%. The company said that investment approval has been accorded for Bilhaur Solar PV Project of 140 MW capacity and Auraiya Solar PV Project of 20 MW capacity. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 December 2018.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 0.41%. DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (DUSA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries announced that DUSA has been granted preliminary injunctive relief by a federal district court prohibiting defendants Biofrontera Inc., Biofrontera Bioscience GmbH, Biofrontera Pharma GmbH, and Biofrontera AG (together known as Biofrontera) from using DUSA's confidential and proprietary trade secret information. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 December 2018.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose 1.55% after the company said it is considering legal options after GST authority found it guilty of not passing on rate cut benefits to consumers. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 December 2018.

In clarification to media report indicating GST authority has found HUL guilty of profiteering Rs 383 crore, HUL clarified that the National Anti Profiteering Authority (NAA) has passed an order against the company on 24 December 2018 for depositing an amount of Rs 223 crore.

HUL has always maintained that the GST is a progressive reform which will benefit consumers and the industry at large. In the absence of set rules and guidelines on profiteering, HUL has gone by the spirit of the law, and passed on the entire benefit received under GST to consumers - either through reduction in prices or through increase in grammage. In addition, HUL had taken many steps as a matter of good governance and by keeping consumers interest in mind. HUL kept the Government informed of the approach and the manner that it had adopted in passing on the GST benefits to consumers.

The NAA order refers to the need to pass on the benefit of reduction in rates to consumers which is fully consistent with HUL's stand and actions. However, it makes a narrow interpretation of the law and does not take into account well established industry practice backed by law. Also, no methodology has been determined by NAA as required under law to determine if benefit has been passed or not. Given there is divergence on some basic issues, HUL will, consider legal options available to it. There is no material impact of the demand and as well as this article on the company, HUL said.

Selan Exploration Technology surged 10.56% to Rs 192.15. The board of directors of Selan Exploration Technology approved the buyback of fully paid-up equity shares of the company at a price not exceeding Rs 300 per share for an aggregate amount of Rs 25 crore from the open market. The company will accordingly purchase an indicative minimum of 4,16,667 equity shares based on the minimum buyback size and the maximum buyback price. The announcement was made during market hours today, 27 December 2018.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 70.38, compared with closing of 70.0675 during the previous trading session.

In global commodities markets, Brent crude oil futures edged lower. Brent for February 2019 settlement was off $1.16 a barrel at $53.31 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday constituted an expert committee to review the extant economic capital framework of the central bank. The committee will be headed by Bimal Jalan, former RBI governor, while Rakesh Mohan, former deputy governor and former DEA (Department of Economic Affairs) secretary, is the vice chairman of the committee.

Overseas, most shares in Europe and Asia were higher Thursday after US stocks saw their best performance in almost a decade on Wednesday.

In US, the Dow logged a 1,000-point gain as equities roared back from oversold conditions. Shoppers delivered the strongest holiday sales increase for US retailers in six years, according to Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks online and in-store spending with all forms of payment.

On the US data front, the Case-Shiller 20-city price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in October, while the year-over-year advance fell to 5% from a revised 5.2% in September.

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