Key indices were trading firm in mid-afternoon trade amid positive development on the US-China trade front. The Nifty crossed the psychological 12,000 level. At 14:300 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 159.53 points or 0.39% at 40,629.31. The Nifty 50 index rose 39.25 points or 0.33% at 12,005.30.
Media reports suggested that China and the U.S. have agreed to roll back tariffs on each other's goods in phases as they work toward a deal between the two sides.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.67%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.55%.
The market breadth was almost positive. On the BSE, 1,261 shares rose and 1,159 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 23 stocks advanced while 27 stocks declined.
Stocks in spotlight:
Shares of HPCL were down 1.04% at Rs 310.55. The firm announced its Q2 earnings during market hours today. Net profit fell 3.63% to Rs 1,052.31 crore on 9.40% decline in total income to Rs 66,850.89 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. Average gross refining margin during the six months ended 30 September 2019 was $1.87 per BBL as against $5.93 per BBL during the corresponding period of previous year. HPCL accounted for budgetary support amounting to Rs 209.22 crore during April-September 2019 (April-September 2018: Rs 544.50 crore) towards under recovery on sale of PDS SKO.
IPCA Laboratories gained 4.32% to Rs 1054 after the company announced a strong Q2 2019 numbers during market hours today. On consolidated basis, net profit advanced 63.27% to Rs 193.54 crore on a 26.87% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 1283.9 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2019.
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Somany Ceramics was up 2.93% at Rs 184.55. The company declared a decent Q2 September 2019 result after market hours yesterday. The company's Q2 profit rose 41.7% to Rs 6.5 crore while the revenue rose 7.9% to Rs 422.2 crore on YoY basis.
Economy:
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the establishment of a 'special window' fund to provide priority debt financing for the completion of stalled housing projects that are in the affordable and middle-income housing sector. For the purposes of the fund, the government shall act as the sponsor and the total commitment to be infused by the government would be upto Rs 10,000 crore.
The fund will be set up as a Category-11 AIF (alternate investment fund) debt fund registered with Sebi and would be professionally run. For the first AIF under the special window, it is proposed that SBICAP Ventures shall be engaged to be the investment manager. This fund would in turn provide relief to developers that require funding to complete a set of unfinished projects and consequently ensure delivery of homes to the home-buyers. Since the real estate industry is intrinsically linked with several other industries, growth in this sector will have a positive effect in releasing stress in other major sectors of the Indian economy as well.
Numbers to watch:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.495% at 14:24 IST compared with 6.486% in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the Indian rupee edged higher against the dollar in mid-afternoon trade. In the spot currency market, the Indian unit was last seen trading at 70.9175. On Wednesday, it closed at 70.9775 against the US dollar.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for January 2020 settlement was up 33 cents at $62.07 a barrel. The contract fell 1.94% to settle at $ 61.74 a barrel during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2019 settlement edged 0.52% lower to Rs 38,049.
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