Firmness continued on the bourses in mid-morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 105.20 points or 0.5%, off close to 35 points from the day's high and up about 65 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds remained net buyers of Indian stocks on Thursday, 26 December 2013. Gains in Asian stocks also underpinned sentiment on the domestic bourses.
IT stocks rose after the latest data showed US jobless claims fell last week. Metal and mining stocks gained. HDFC extended intraday gains. Pharma stocks gained.
Asian stocks edged higher on Friday, 27 December 2013, as improved economic data sent US stocks surging overnight.
The market edged higher in early trade on firm Asian stocks. A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices regained strength after trimming initial gains in morning trade. The Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit their highest level in more than two weeks. Firmness continued on the bourses in mid-morning trade.
The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds remained net buyers of Indian stocks on Thursday, 26 December 2013. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 743.70 crore on Thursday, 26 December 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 11:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 105.20 points or 0.5% to 21,179.79. The index jumped 142.53 points at the day's high of 21,217.12 in morning trade, its highest level since 10 December 2013. The index gained 38.66 points at the day's low of 21,113.25 in early trade.
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The CNX Nifty was up 30.70 points or 0.49% to 6,309.60. The index hit a high of 6,319.35 in intraday trade, its highest level since 11 December 2013. The index hit a low of 6,289.40 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,248 shares gained and 817 shares fell. A total of 113 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 24 stocks gained and rest of them declined. SBI (up 1.18%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.59%) and L&T (up 0.86%) gained.
Pharma stocks gained. Cipla (up 1.1%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.51%), Lupin (up 0.3%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 0.76%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.36%) gained.
HDFC rose 1.52%, with the stock extending intraday gains.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.44% to Rs 883.75. The stock hit high of Rs 893.05 and low of Rs 883.55 so far during the day.
Most metal and mining stocks gained. Sesa Sterlite (up 1.63%), JSW Steel (up 0.03%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.25%), (up 1.87%), Bhushan Steel (up 0.16%), Tata Steel (up 0.16%), and Sail (up 0.98%) gained. Hindustan Zinc fell 1.19%. National Aluminum Company dropped 0.26%.
IT stocks rose after the latest data showed US jobless claims fell last week. US is the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms. TCS (up 1.25%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.95%), Infosys (up 1.39%), and Wipro (up 1.41%) gained. HCL Technologies fell 0.09%.
Shares of Polaris Financial Technology surged after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) quashed and set aside a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order that barred Polaris Financial Technology chairman Arun Jain from market activities on charges of insider trading. The stock was up 4.34%. Jain filed an appeal before the appellate body. A 23 December SAT order said, "In view of peculiar facts of present case, without going into the merits of the case and without giving any reasons, impugned order dated October 9, 2012 may be set aside." It may be recalled that Sebi had in October 2012 barred Jain from market activities on charges of insider trading for a period of two years. The incident dates back to 2000.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar on global risk on sentiment. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.08, compared with its close of 62.16/17 on Thursday, 26 December 2013.
Asian stocks edged higher on Friday, 27 December 2013, as improved economic data sent US stocks surging overnight. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore were up 0.22% to 1.01%. Japan's Nikkei Average fell 0.48%.
China data today, 27 December 2013, showed industrial companies' profits rose 9.7% from a year earlier in November, compared with a 15.1% jump in October.
Japan's inflation accelerated to the fastest pace since 2008 last month, bringing the rate closer to policy makers' target while threatening to erode household spending power unless employers boost wages. Prices excluding fresh food rose 1.2% from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could slide 15 points at the opening bell on Friday, 27 December 2013. US stocks extended all-time highs on Thursday as a drop in jobless claims fueled optimism in the economy. Fewer Americans than projected filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, indicating the US labor market is improving. Jobless claims declined by 42,000 to 338,000 in the week ended Dec. 21, a Labor Department report showed in Washington. US consumer confidence climbed last week to a four-month high as an improving job market and holiday discounts put Americans in the mood to shop.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday signed a compromise budget that reduces the risk of another government shutdown and a defense bill that cracks down on sexual assault in the military and smooths the path for transferring detainees from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The two-year US budget agreement, negotiated by Congress earlier this month, and the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2104 were among seven pieces of legislation signed by Obama, who is vacationing with his family in Hawaii. The US Senate passed the budget deal on December 18 to ease automatic spending cuts and reduce the risk of a government shutdown. It was negotiated by Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington state and Paul Ryan, Republican from Wisconsin, who is chairman of the House Budget Committee. The Senate approved the annual defense policy bill on December 20, one of its final actions before leaving for the Christmas break. The act authorizes a Pentagon base budget of $526.8 billion in the 2014 fiscal year. That amount will have to be reconciled early in the new year with the $498 billion agreed to in the budget deal.
The US Federal Reserve said after a two-day monetary policy review on 18 December 2013 that it will cut its monthly bond purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion starting in January 2014 amid an improved outlook for the job market in the world's largest economy. The US central bank is poised to continue winding down its stimulus measures gradually over the next year.
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