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Benchmark indices extended gains after a firm opening on Friday led by financials and index heavyweights ITC and Reliance Industries.
At 9:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 189 points a 27,696 and the 50-share Nifty was up 56 points at 8,340.
The government on Thursday raised the excise duties on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 a litre to fund an “ambitious infrastructure development programme” this and the next financial year, including 15,000 km of road construction.
'Gyan Sangam,'a two-day conclave of bankers and insurers starts from today at Pune. The retreat will be attended by the Prime Minister and RBI Governor along with the chiefs of financial institutions to discuss issues like financial inclusion, direct benefits transfer and consolidation in public sector banks.
For the month of December 2014 India’s HSBC Manufacturing PMI compiled by Markit Economics will be released on today along with the HSBC PMI of Eurozone, US and France.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 18.20 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Among Asian markets, Hang Seng index is trading higher by 0.6% while Strait Times index is flat. US markets were closed yesterday for the New Year Holiday.
All sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in the green led by Power index which was up 0.8% followed by Metal, Capital Goods, Consumer Goods, Oil and Gas indices among others.ICICI Bank was up 0.5%. According to media reports the bank has hiked interest rates on wholesale term deposits by 15 basis points (bps) on Thursday.
PSU banks such as SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India were up 0.5-0.7% each ahead of the two-day bankers' retreat in Pune where consolidation among the PSBs is to be discussed among other financial matters.
Among other shares, TVS Motor was down 0.6%. The company posted a 20.3 per cent growth in sales in December last year. Total sales of the company for the month was 1,91,880 compared to 1,59,495 units during December 2013.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.5-0.6% each.
Market breadth was positive with 1,183 gainers and 306 losers on the BSE.
