 "Sensex up over 150 points led by bank shares; Nifty holds 7,800")
Markets ended higher on Monday with FMCG major ITC and bank shares leading the gains.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 150 points at 25,760 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 44 points at 7,807.
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(Updated at 2:15pm)
Markets continued to trade firm in late noon deals on Monday with bank and capital goods shares leading the gains.
At 2:15pm, the Sensex was up 183 points at 25,793 and the Nifty rose 52 points to 7,814.
In the broader market, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are in line with the benchmarks and are up 0.1-0.3%. Market breadth is neutral with 1,272 shares advancing and 1,209 shares declining.
India's Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation contracted for the 12th straight month in October 2015 to a negative -3.81% annually as compared to -4.54 per cent in September 2015, government data showed on Monday.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian and European stocks weakened after investors pressed sales in equities after the terror attacks in Paris. Further, the Japanese economy slipped into recession after government data today showed that July-September GDP contracted 0.8%. The benchmark Nikkei ended down 1% while China's Shanghai Composite was the sole gainer in the region up 0.7%. Among others in the region, Straits Times and Hang Seng were down 0.6-1.7% each.
The European stocks too opened lower on Monday riding on the emotional wave on account of terror attacks in Paris. Major European stock indices such as CAC-40, DAX and FTSE are down between 0.7-1%
SECTORS & STOCKS
Sectorally, BSE Bankex has surged over 1%, followed by Capital Goods index among others. BSE IT index is down by 0.8% amid an appreciating rupee.
From the financial sector, ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank are up 0.8-2.4%. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet heads of PSU banks on November 23 to discuss various issues, including bad loans and credit flow to productive sectors of the economy.
In the capital goods space, L&T and BHEL were up 1.3-1.9% each.
Bharti Airtel is up 1%. The telecom major is planning to issue sterling bonds of up to £500 million (Rs 5,000 crore), which will be listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Tata Steel is up nearly 3%. The steel major plans to sell its plant in northern England to give it the “best chance of survival" as the UK industry has been struggling under a flood of cheap steel being pumped in from China, which has depressed prices.
In the oil and gas space, RIL is up 1% while ONGC has gained 0.6% following gains in global crude oil prices.
Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have raised the prices of petrol by 36 paise per liter and diesel rates by 87 paise per liter in order to align the domestic petroleum product prices with global benchmarks. While BPCL and IOC are down 0.5-1% each HPCL is up 1.8%.
Coal India (CIL), the government-owned near-monopolist in the sector, is to build 15 washeries across its various subsidiaries, through private companies under a build and operate model.
Among other shares, Themis Medicare was locked in upper circuit for seven straight trading days, up 5% at Rs 376, also its record high on the BSE, after the company reported a consolidated net profit at Rs 6.59 crore for the quarter ended September 2015 (Q2).
