The market extended rally for sixth straight session on Friday. The sentiment was boosted by foreign funds turning net buyers of Indian stocks in the past few sessions. Better-than-expected Q2 results from a few companies also supported buying.
The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, rose 246.32 points or 0.63% to 39,298.38. The Nifty 50 index rose 75.50 points or 0.65% to 11,661.85.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1608 shares rose and 922 shares fell. A total of 177 shares remain unchanged.
Buying was wide spread. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.78% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.65%.
The domestic stock market will remain closed on Monday, 21 October 2019, on account of assembly elections in Maharashtra.
In the past six trading sessions, the Sensex surged 3.74% while the Nifty advanced 3.8%.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while addressing Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs on Tuesday, said that more reforms to boost growth are on the anvil in the current year to boost growth. The reforms will be guided by close scrutiny of growth evidence in the economy, she added.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will today, 18 October 2019, announce the minutes of its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review meeting held on 4 October 2019.
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee was flat at 71.16.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2019 settlement was up 29 cents at $60.20 a barrel. The contract rose 49 cents or 0.82% to settle at $59.91 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia declined on Friday after China posted its weakest growth in nearly three decades.
China Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 6% in third quarter ended September 2019, compared with 6.2% in the second quarter, official figures showed on Friday. The Chinese economy grew at 6.6% in 2018. However, the Industrial Production rose 5.8% year-on-year in September, after growth of 4.4% in August. Meanwhile, consumer spending, as represented by Retail Sales, rose 7.8% year-on-year in September.
On the US-China trade front, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow's commented that he sees momentum to finalize the initial phase of a U.S.-China trade deal outlined last week, adding it may be signed at the APEC forum next month.
UK secured a Brexit deal with EU on Thursday, three years after the vote to leave the bloc, but UK PM Boris Johnson must still win favour in the parliament to get the agreement approved.
Meanwhile, French automobile major Renault cut its full-year revenue and profit forecast amid a broad-based slump in auto sales as China's poor growth stirs fear among investors.
The US stock market finished session near records high on Thursday as risk sentiments boosted up by better than expected corporate earnings reports from U.S. companies such as Netflix and Morgan Stanley and optimism from a Brexit draft agreement.
US industrial production fell by 0.4% in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8% in August, the Federal Reserve released a report on Thursday.
On the equity front back home, index pivotal Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.37% to Rs 1415.30, ahead of its Q2 results today. RIL has become the first Indian company to cross Rs 9 trillion market capitalization after its shares hit its 52-week high of Rs 1428 in intraday today.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) soared 22.22% to Rs 54.45 on reports the government may consider bringing down its stake in Bhel to 26% from 63.17% now.
3M India fell 4.59% to Rs 21838.15 after a block deal of 2 lakh equity shares, or 1.8% stake, of the firm was struck on the NSE today, 18 October 2019.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) fell 5.55% to Rs 250. The company's consolidated net profit rose 6.87% to Rs 413.23 crore on 7.4% rise in net sales to Rs 2122.01 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 17 October 2019.
ZEEL said it had a fixed deposit with a bank of Rs 200 crore. During the quarter ended 30 September 2019, the bank has prematurely, unilaterally adjusted the amount of the fixed deposit, which was maturing on 10 September 2019, against the dues of certain related parties. Subsequently, these related parties have reimbursed the amounts to the company, aggregating Rs 133.30 crore before 30 September 2019 (recorded as other financial liabilities) and Rs 66.70 crore after the quarter end. The company is in the process of investigating, seeking legal advice on the appropriate action to be taken as well as compliance with statutory and legal requirements.
In fiscal 2019, it had given an inter-corporate deposit (ICD) of Rs 150 crore. On seeing delays in recovering the amount, it assigned the ICD to certain related parties to secure payment of Rs 170 crore (including accrued interest). Since there are further delays in receiving payment from these parties during the September quarter, the said amount was listed as 'exceptional item' in its books, ZEEL added.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 1.67% to Rs 1448.05. L&T agreed to purchase the entire 2.551% stake held by Old Lane Mauritius III (Old Lane') in L&T Infrastructure Development Projects ('L&T IDPL'), a subsidiary company, for Rs 47.997 crore on 17 October 2019.
Larsen & Toubro Infotech added 7.55% to Rs 1612 after consolidated net profit gained 1.20% to Rs 360.10 crore on 3.45% rise in net sales to Rs 2,570.70 crore in Q2 September 2019 compared with Q1 June 2019. The result was announced after trading hours yesterday, 17 October 2019.
TVS Motor Company rose 4.45% to Rs 456.60, extending yesterday's 6.26% gain. The firm's consolidated net profit rose 15.09% to Rs 256.88 crore on a 9.17% decline in total income to Rs 4,966.88 crore in Q2 September 2019 compared with Q2 September 2018. The result was announced during market hours yesterday, 17 October 2019.
ARSS Infrastructure Projects hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 24.05. The construction company informed during market hours today, 18 October 2019, that it has secured a work order of Rs 76.15 crore for construction of handling platforms, railway track, truck parking area, buildings and other ancillary facilities for IFFCO at MMLP Paradip, Odisha. The contract was awarded in favor of the company's joint venture named ARSS-BDPL (JV) by Container Corporation of India on 17 October 2019.
K.P.R. Mill surged 6.62% to Rs 605.15. The apparel manufacturer informed that Sebi has allowed it to proceed with the buyback offer. On 11 July 2019, K.P.R. Mill had cancelled the buyback proposal because of the increase in the amount of buyback obligation due to the tax proposal in the Finance Bill 2019.
Indoco Remedies rose 4.85% to Rs 151.35. The drug maker informed during market hours today, 18 October 2019 that its clinical research organisation, AnaCipher, located at Hyderabad successfully cleared the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection with zero 483s. The inspection was held from 14 October to 18 October, 2019.
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