Key indices reversed losses in morning trade as assembly elections results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh showed that BJP could form government in both the states. At 10:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 207.65 points or 0.62% at 33,670.62. The Nifty 50 index gained 61.80 points or 0.6% at 10,395.05. The Sensex regained the psychological 33,000 mark after sliding below that mark in early trade.
The election in Gujarat is seen as a prestige battle for both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and newly-elected Congress president Rahul Gandhi. For PM Modi, Gujarat being his home state makes it a must-win battle for the BJP. The BJP has been ruling in Gujarat for the last two decades and a win today will be significant ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Indices slumped in early trade after early trends of Gujarat assembly election results showed a close fight between incumbent BJP party and rival Congress party. Market soon reversed losses in morning trade as concerns eased following BJP crossing past simple majority mark in its stronghold Gujarat state.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.75%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.6%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,372 shares rose and 757 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.
Metal & mining stocks gained. JSW Steel (up 0.7%), Bhushan Steel (up 0.01%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.22%), Vedanta (up 3.15%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.09%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.67%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.03%), Tata Steel (up 0.82%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 0.38%), National Aluminum Company (up 0.01%) and NMDC (up 0.01%) gained.
Most telecom stocks declined. Reliance Communications (down 0.93%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 2.28%) and Idea Cellular (down 0.59%) declined.
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Bharti Airtel dropped 0.57%. The company announced that on 16 December 2017, the company and Airtel Payments Bank (APBL) (a subsidiary of Airtel), were served with an interim order dated 15 December 2017 by the Unique Identification Authority of India, Government of India (UIDAI) directing suspension of the e-KYC license key of Airtel/ APBL with immediate effect. The company is engaging with UIDAI to resolve this at the earliest. The announcement was made on Sunday, 17 December 2017.
Shares of Bharti Infratel gained 0.06%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
JMC Projects (India) rose 4.76% after the company said that it has secured new orders worth Rs 790 crore. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 15 December 2017.
S. K. Tripathi, CEO & Deputy Managing Director, JMC Projects (India), said, the company's water pipeline and irrigation segment within the infrastructure business continues to build on with these orders and strengthens its belief of long term scalability. On the back of a solid order book, the company is confident of exceeding its revenue growth guidance for FY 2018.
On the political front, counting of votes is underway for recently held assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh with trends showing that BJP could still be able to form the government in both the states after early trends had showed a close fight with the rival Congress party. BJP was leading or won in 108 seats while Congress was leading or won in 73 seats in Gujarat. BJP was leading or won in 42 seats while Congress was leading in 22 seats in Himachal Pradesh.
Poll in Himachal Pradesh took place in single phase on 9 November 2017, while in Gujarat, poll was scheduled in two phases on 9 and 14 December 2017.
On macroeconomic data front, India's merchandise exports surged 30.5% to $26.2 billion in November 2017 over a year ago. Meanwhile, merchandise imports increased 19.6% to $40.02 billion. The trade deficit rose 3.2% to $13.83 billion in November 2017 from US$ 13.01 billion in November 2016.
India's services exports improved 7.9% to $14.15 billion in October 2017 over October 2016. Meanwhile, India's services imports galloped 13.3% to $8.70 billion in October 2017. India's services trade surplus rose 0.3% to $5.45 billion in October 2017 from $5.43 billion in October 2016.
Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed. Japan's export growth accelerated in November to mark a full year of annual gains. The 16.2% export growth in November, accelerated from a 14% year-on-year increase in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Finance.
US stocks rose to all-time highs on Friday, 15 December 2017, as expectations of a Republican tax bill passing increased. The plan will likely cut the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%.
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