 "Nifty holds 7,950 amid choppy trades; metal & oil shares gain")
Benchmark Indices have extended gains and are trading near day’s high led by buying among auto shares.
Fitch re-affirmed its "negative" outlook for India's banking sector, saying the financial standing remained "fragile" without bigger capital injections and that the government's action on banknotes could end up having a mixed impact.
By 14:25 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 138 points at 25,903 and the Nifty50 was trading at 51 points lower at 7,980. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.3%-1%.
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Top gainers from the Sensex pack are HUL, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC and Bajaj Auto, all surging between 2%-3%. On the losing side, L&T, GAIL, NTPC, Power Grid and Dr Reddyls Labs are down 1%-2%.Wockhardt has fallen to its 52-week low of Rs 683, down 1.4% on the BSE in intra-day trade.
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Updated at 11:45 PM
Benchmark indices continue to trade in a narrow range with positive bias aided by buying demand among metal and oil shares as global commodity prices rose.. However, the upside is capped due to selling pressure among capital goods shares.
Global banking and financial services major Deutsche Bank has cut its December Sensex target to 25,000 from 27,000 and expects the remainder of 2016 to be highly uncertain on global headwinds.
"We expect the remainder of 2016 to be highly uncertain, which will keep markets volatile with a downward bias. We cut our December 2016 Sensex target to 25,000 (from 27,000 earlier)," Deutsche Bank said in a report.
By 13:05 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 57 points at 25,822 and the Nifty50 was trading at 26 points lower at 7,956. In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index is up 0.3% while teh Smallcap index slipped marginally.
“Markets are trading in a narrow range in expectation of weak December quarter numbers due to prevailing demand contraction as a result of currency demonetisation. It would be difficult to say how long this could continue but government and other regulators are taking multiple measures to lessen the pain. In this scenario, market would keenly await indications from domestic interest rate decisions by RBI, US Fed rate hike and the budget for FY 17-18,” said Kunj B. Bansal, Executive Director & CIO – Equity at Centrum Wealth Management.
Reserve Bank of India said that banks have disbursed Rs 1,03,316 crore to customers through branches and ATMs since November 10 till November 18, 2016.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate of the rupee at 68.2575 against the US dollar and 72.3530 for the euro.
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In the overseas market, Asian stocks rose to one-week highs, helped by solid overnight gains on Wall Street, though investors were wary of chasing prices higher until President-elect Donald Trump picks his economic team. Oil extended gains.
Crude oil climbed in Asian trading with U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) up 1 percent as the dollar pulled back and expectations of production cuts grew.
Back home, Maruti Suzuki, HUL, Adani Ports, Cipla and Tata Steel have surged between 1%-2%. However, L&T, NTPC, Power Grid, GAIL and Dr Reddy’s Labs are down 1%-3%.
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Among other shares, PNB Gilts hit a new high of Rs 51.30, up 10% on BSE, extending its month-long rally after it reported a robust set of numbers for the second quarter ending September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17).
Sobha was down 4% at Rs 227, also its 52-week low on BSE after the company reported a flat consolidated net profit at Rs 38.4 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17).
With Reuters inputs
