The stock market edged higher in early trade on the back of exit polls predicting a clear win for the BJP in the assembly elections of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. At 9:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 299.12 points or 0.9% at 33,545.82. The Nifty 50 index rose 104.95 points or 1.02% at 10,357.05.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.89%, underperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.19%, outperforming the Sensex.
Overseas, Asian stocks edged lower with Japanese and Hong Kong markets leading declines in the region after US markets closed in the red. US stocks closed lower yesterday, 14 December 2017, as two GOP Senators raised some concerns about the tax bill.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has hiked its growth forecasts, but admitted that inflation still won't be on target by 2020. In its final meeting of 2017 held yesterday, 14 December 2017, the eurozone's central bank voted to leave interest rates on hold - and repeated its commitment to running an asset-purchase stimulus programme until at least next September.
Closer home, the breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,135 shares rose and 195 shares declined. A total of 31 shares were unchanged.
Vedanta rose 2.13% at Rs 290.70 after the company said it proposes to offer rated, secured, redeemable, non-cumulative, non-convertible debentures aggregating to Rs 500 crore. In this regard, the company is holding a meeting of its duly constituted committee of the board on 19 December 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 14 December 2017.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was up 0.93% after the company announced that it plans to increase prices of its passenger and commercial vehicles by up to 3% with effect from 1 January 2018. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 14 December 2017.
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HDFC Bank was up 2.22% at Rs 1,878 after the bank announced that its board will meet on 20 December 2017 to consider a proposal for raising of funds through various means including a proposal for preferential issue to Housing Development Finance Corporation (the promoter). The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 14 December 2017.
On the macro front, in a boost to Narendra Modi led NDA government at the centre, a host of exit polls predicted a clear victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded assembly elections for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Exit polls predicted that the BJP will retain Gujarat while wresting power from the Congress in Himachal Pradesh. Counting of votes for these two states is scheduled on Monday, 18 December 2017.
The winter session of the Parliament begins today, 15 December 2017. This session will have a total of 14 working days. The session concludes on 5 January 2018. The government has a slew of important Bills on its agenda in this session. The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 is slated to come up in this session of Parliament. This Bill aims to limit the impact of the failure of financial institutions like banks and NBFCs. It has also been cleared by the standing committee.
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