The stock market traded with modest gains after hitting fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade as firmness in most global stocks perked up sentiment. At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 121.16 points or 0.36% at 33,877.44. The Nifty 50 index rose 37.05 points or 0.35% at 10,477.35. The Sensex hit record high.
The market opened higher and extended gains till mid-morning trade. Stocks remained firm later during the session.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.16%, underperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.7%, outperforming the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,565 shares rose and 1,073 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.
Pharma stocks were mixed. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.51%), Cipla (up 0.16%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.75%), and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.75%) gained. Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.52%), Lupin (down 0.85%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.68%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.58%) and Wockhardt (down 2.52%) declined.
Shares of most power generation and power distribution companies gained. NHPC (up 3.39%), Tata Power Company (up 1.7%), Adani Power (up 6.59%), and Reliance Power (up 4.22%) gained. Torrent Power (down 0.14%), NTPC (down 0.08%), and Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.34%) declined.
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Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) rose 4.42%, extending yesterday's gains triggered by the company selling its Mumbai power business to Adani Transmission. The company made the announcement during trading hours yesterday, 21 December 2017. RInfra announced signing of definitive binding agreement with Adani Transmission (ATL) for 100% stake sale of its Mumbai power business, which includes integrated business of generation, transmission and distribution of power for Mumbai.
Total deal value is at Rs 13251 crore. This comprises of business valued at Rs 12101 crore and regulatory assets approved so far of Rs 1150 crore. In addition, regulatory assets under approval estimated at Rs 5000 crore and net working capital on closing estimated at Rs 550 crore will flow directly to RInfra. Total consideration value is estimated at Rs 18800 crore.
Overseas, European stocks edged lower. Most Asian stocks rose after positive close for US stocks overnight. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet endorsed a record $860 billion spending budget for fiscal 2018, highlighting his greater emphasis on growth than austerity, with aggressive monetary stimulus keeping borrowing costs low.
US stock-market indexes closed modestly higher yesterday, 21 December 2017, driven by gains in the energy, financials and telecom sectors.
On the economic data front, the US economy's pace of growth in the third quarter was lowered slightly to a 3.2% annual rate from 3.3% under the government's final revision to gross domestic product. The economy expanded at a 3.1% rate in the second quarter. Separately, initial jobless claims rose a higher-than-expected 20,000 in the latest week, though they remain at historically low levels.
On the upside, the Philadelphia Fed's Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey jumped to a reading of 26.2 in December from 22.7.
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