Domestic stocks logged sharp gains on first trading day of the week with the Sensex and the Nifty hitting almost one-week high on upbeat global stocks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 610.80 points, or 1.83%, to 33,917.94, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index advanced 194.55 points, or 1.90%, to 10,421.40, as per the provisional closing data. Gains were led by strong buying demand in index heavyweights ITC, HDFC and Reliance Industries.
Global stocks gained as international trade-war concerns took a backseat to economic optimism following a stronger US jobs report released over the weekend.
Trading for the week began on a firm note as the key benchmark indices saw a gap-up opening triggered by positive Asian stocks. Indices extended gains in morning trade. Stocks held firm till early afternoon trade. Indices hit fresh day's highs in afternoon trade. After holding firm in mid-afternoon trade, stocks rallied in late trade to hit fresh intraday high.
The Sensex surged 655.34 points or 1.97% at the day's high of 33,962.48 in late trade, its highest level since 6 March 2018. The index rose 161.02 points or 0.48% at the day's low of 33,468.16 in early trade. The Nifty gained 206.80 points or 2.02% at the day's high of 10,433.65 in late trade, its highest level since 6 March 2018. The index rose 68.60 points or 0.67% at the day's low of 10,295.45 in early trade.
Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally rose 0.76%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index provisionally rose 0.56%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, once again turned positive from negative in late trade. On the BSE, 1,378 shares rose and 1,354 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged. Breadth was strong till morning trade. It turned negative from positive in early afternoon trade.
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Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC jumped 4.34% to Rs 270.65 after the government kept cess on cigarettes unchanged at its GST Council meeting on Saturday, 10 March 2018.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries' (RIL) rose 1.97% to Rs 930 after the company's step-down subsidiary, Reliance Retail (RRL), has subscribed to 19.04 lakh common shares of KaiOS Technologies Inc (KTI) at $3.675 per share, for cash aggregating to $7 million, translating to 16% of equity stake of KTI on a fully diluted basis. KTI is an emerging mobile operating system technology provider incorporated in the State of Delaware, USA in 2014. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 9 March 2018.
Separately, RIL said that its telecom arm Reliance Jio Infomm's (RJio) Live TV app JioTV has introduced India's first interactive sports experience for consumers watching the ongoing tri-nation Nidahas trophy which is being shown exclusively on JioTV in India. With this, JioTV consumers can interact with the game while watching it - a revolution in the Live TV space, RIL said. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 9 March 2018.
Telecom stocks saw mixed trend. Idea Cellular (up 0.32%) and Reliance Communications (up 1.98%) rose. MTNL (down 2.21%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 3.5%) fell.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel gained 5.11% after the company's board of directors in its meeting held today, 12 March 2018 has approved issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of upto Rs 10000 crore on a private placement basis in such tranches / series and at such rates as may be approved from time to time on cumulative basis along with all NCDs issued by the company; and issuance of foreign currency bonds upto a limit of $1 billion or equivalent in one or more tranches. The announcement was made during market hours today, 12 March 2018.
Meanwhile, the National Company Law Tribunal, New Delhi, Principal Bench vide its order dated 8 March 2018, has sanctioned the Scheme of amalgamation between Telenor (India) Communications and Bharti Airtel and their respective shareholders and creditors. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 9 March 2018.
Shares of Bharti Infratel rose 0.75% after a foreign brokerage reportedly said that the stock valuations are cheap and maybe getting close to buy territory. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
Tata Motors advanced 3.18% after the Tata Motors Group global wholesales in February 2018, including Jaguar Land Rover, rose 18%, to 1.21 lakh units in February 2018 over February 2017. Global wholesales of all Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in February 2018 rose 28% to 46,262 units. Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in February 2018 rose 12% to 74,990 units. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 9 March 2018.
Jaiprakash Associates rose 5.38% to Rs 14.70 on bargain hunting after a recent slide. Shares of Jaiprakash Associates slumped 23.98% in seven trading sessions to settle at Rs 13.95 on Friday, 9 March 2018, from its close of Rs 18.35 on 27 February 2018.
On the macro front, the government will after market hours today, 12 March 2018, announce inflation data based on consumer price index (CPI) for February 2018. Consumer prices in India increased 5.07% year-on-year in January 2018, below 5.21% in December 2017.
Industrial production data for January 2018 will also be released after market hours today, 12 March 2018. India's industrial production rose by 7.1% year-on-year in December 2017, following an upwardly revised 8.8% gain in the previous month.
Meanwhile, sending a strong positive signal to the exporting community, the GST Council in its 26th meeting held on Saturday, 10 March 2018 decided to extend the available tax exemptions on imported goods for a further six months beyond 31 March 2018. Thus, exporters presently availing various export promotion schemes can now continue to avail such exemptions on their imports upto 1 October 2018, by which time an e-Wallet scheme is expected to be in place to continue the benefits in future.
The GST Council has also recommended the introduction of e-way bill for inter-State movement of goods across the country from 1 April 2018. For intra-State movement of goods, e-way bill system will be introduced with effect from a date to be announced in a phased manner but not later than 1 June 2018. E-way bill is required to be generated only where the value of the consignment exceeds Rs 50000. For smaller value consignments, no e-way bill is required.
Overseas, Asian and European equities edged higher as trade-war concerns took a backseat to economic optimism following a stronger-than-expected jobs report in the US.
US stocks registered strong gains on Friday, 9 March 2018 as Wall Street appeared to shake off worries about tariffs on steel and aluminum to focus on an unexpectedly strong jobs report. Shares also got a boost from news that US President Donald Trump accepted an invitation to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which followed a narrower-than-expected tariff plan from the White House on Thursday, 8 March 2018 that eased speculation of a trade war.
In economic data, the US created 313,000 new jobs in February, the biggest gain since mid-2016 and a reflection of the strongest labor market in two decades. The unemployment rate held at 4.1%, the fifth straight month at that level. The subdued rise in wage growth for the month helped to ease worries about runaway inflation.
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