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Benchmark indices continue their upward march supported by strong global cues. Gains were visible in auto, metal, finance, banking and realty sector indices. European Central Bank money policy review expected later in the day also aided the sentiment.
Investors are counting on European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi announcing an extension of quantitative easing (QE) for about six months.
BSE Sensex rose as much as 409 points in intra-day trade while Nifty 50 continued to comfortably hold its 8,200 level.
By 1:30 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 436 points at 26,673 and the Nifty50 gained 138 points at 8,240. The broader markets are performing in line with the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up over 1%.
Sectors and Stocks
Tata Steel surged over 4% making it the top gainer on BSE Sensex after the company made a 10-year commitment to a one-billion-pound investment plan as part of its crucial talks with steelworkers’ unions to save thousands of jobs in the UK.
BSE Metal was the top sectoral gainer, up 3.76% led by gains in Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, Vendanta, SAIL, NMDC and Hindalco. Only one stock (NALCO) was in red in the BSE Metals index.
Vedanta hit a 52-week high of Rs 240, up 4% on the BSE, while SAIL (up 4.5% at Rs 54.30) and Hindalco Industries (up 3% at Rs 181) were trading close to their respective 52-week highs in intra-day deals.
Among other gainers, Tata Motors also rose over 4% after solid JLR sales growth in China and North America in November.
Only 2 stocks on BSE Sensex were trading in red in the afternoon trade. NTPC was down 0.95% while Asian paints fell 0.17% on Thursday
IOC, BPCL and HPCL rose almost 1% after they signed a pact to build India's biggest oil refinery at a cost of $30 billion on the west coast. The BSE Oil & Gas index was also up over 1% with RIL, ONGC and IGL gaining between 1-2%.
IVRCL infra rose almost 20% in today’s trade after reports that Essel Infraprojects Ltd is in advanced talks to buy a controlling stake in Hindustan Dorr-Oliver (HDO), a publicly traded unit of debt-laden infra developer IVRCL Ltd. The stock lifted the BSE Industrials index 2%
Among other stocks, Crompton Greaves dipped 9% to Rs 60 on the BSE in early morning trade after the company said that its deal with Pauwels Spaco Ltd-an SPV of first reserve (parties) for sale of its power business in Europe, North America and Indonesia stands terminated.
Global Markets
Asian shares hustled to one-month highs on Thursday after Wall Street strode to another record, while bonds rallied on wagers the European Central Bank would extend its stimulus campaign at a policy meeting later in the session.
Risk appetite got an extra boost when China reported upbeat trade figures with exports and imports both beating forecasts. Resource imports were very strong, a major reason prices for bulk commodities have been going gangbusters.
The resource-heavy Australian market jumped 1.2%, as did MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.
Japan's Nikkei put on 0.9%, brushing off a disappointing downward revision to economic growth for the third quarter.
The Dow ended Wednesday with gains of 1.55%, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.32% and the Nasdaq 1.14%.
